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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260108">Fleurmione week 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fran_KT/pseuds/Fran_KT'>Fran_KT</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Best ship, Day 2 Fleur's a bitch, Day 3 is cute, Day 4 is all about music, Day 5 is all about war, Day 5 is what the warnings were all about, Day 6 is day 5 part 2, Day 6 is ww2 but less blood, Day 7 is finally up, F/F, Fleurmione week, Gay Ron is not that bad, Hermione can be dirty too, Hermione could do better than Ron, I live for Gabs and Ginny, Ron is dead, Ron is meh, Triwizard-free fics, fleurmione - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:09:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,298</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fran_KT/pseuds/Fran_KT</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one-shots with set themes. All featuring Fleurmione as the main couple. Some are fluff while some might not. Rated M for later chapters.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fleur Delacour/Hermione Granger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>326</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fleurmione Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chase you, chase me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A/N: Welcome to Fleurmione week, a one-shot story per day. Here in Madrid is 2:50 am so we are officially on the first day of this interesting week. Each day has a different theme that has been quite a challenge at times, despite that here we go.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Day 1: Hospitals</strong>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>"She's stable now" an intern stated with relief.</p><p>"Let's close her up" the surgeon sighed relieved after she finished suturing her patient before turning to her staff "good job everyone."</p><p>"Doctor are you alright?" a nurse asked after seeing how the doctor looked pale all of a sudden.</p><p>"I-yes, I am just a bit tired" the surgeon took off her mask, hat, and gloves and gave a lopsided smile before leaving the operation room. She briskly walked through endless hallways, until she got to an empty on-call room.</p><p>She didn't feel like talking much right after such a long surgery. Twelve hours standing and making sure her patient didn't die on her was sure a lot to take on to also hear the rant of her coworkers' latest sexcapade, no thank you very much.</p><p>The surgeon landed on the bed face down. She was utterly exhausted after her second surgery in a row. And it was only eight in the evening of her terribly long shift.</p><p>"I hope I can take a break now; I am worn out-" she didn't even finish her thoughts when her pager started beeping and the door burst open "doctor Granger, there's an emergency"</p><p>"<em>Of course,</em> there is" Hermione sighed before putting her hair up in a ponytail and following the nurse to the ER.</p><p>When she entered the trauma room, everything was chaos. Nurses ran back and forth getting what other doctors asked. Two interns were trying to restraint the bleeding and screaming patient that didn't hold still. Hermione took a deep breath and then asked for the patient's chart. When she read the name of the patient, her amber eyes widened and a small tinted her cheeks of pale pink.</p><p>
  <em>Fleur Delacour.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The golden chaser.</em>
</p><p>Hermione was an avid quidditch follower and of course, she had heard about the talented chaser. She was a brilliant player that had transferred from France to the aggressive Falmouth Falcons on a controversial double transfer as her sister, the keeper Gabrielle Delacour also joined the transaction.</p><p>Right after starting to play, the Falcons won their first quidditch cup in three decades, and the two French players raised to stardom. That was three years ago, and the aggressive team was still unbeatable winning three quidditch cups in a row.</p><p>The elegant blondes were considered their best in their position and many men and women had tried to get their attention to no avail. The sisters simply wanted to play quidditch, nothing more.</p><p>"Doctor Granger!" a tall doctor yelled, and Hermione jumped surprised before approaching the bleeding patient.</p><p>"<strong>Gabrielle, where is she?</strong>" Fleur shouted in French and the Gryffindor looked around the room, but the younger blonde was nowhere to be found. <strong>"Is she okay?"</strong></p><p>"You are the only one that speaks French" the same tall doctor commented while trying to sedate Fleur to be shoved by an angry-looking blonde. Her left hand turned into a talon and stabbed the tall doctor's stomach that was now bleeding profusely.</p><p>
  <em>Oh right, she's a veela.</em>
</p><p>"<strong>I will find her but let me help you first</strong>" Hermione spoke slowly so the words permeated Fleur's angry mind. The woman yellowish eyes landed on the doctor that spoke her own language and was now holding her talons despite how sharp they were "<strong>please</strong>" the voice was soothing and that made the chaser react.</p><p>Her yellowish eyes closed and after several deep breaths, Fleur's orbs were back to her normal vibrant blue. "<strong>Fine, but I want to know about my sister as soon as possible</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>As soon as you are taken care of, I will find out</strong>" Hermione smiled while nodding and a nurse approached and injected a sedative to the blonde's IV "<strong>I promise</strong>" cerulean eyes closed and the doctors and nurses approached once more to help Hermione tend the blonde's wounds. She would definitely need a long surgery, later on, to try to fix all the mess her body was in.</p>
<hr/><p>"Can somebody tell me where Gabrielle Delacour is?" the Gryffindor doctor shouted while walking behind the gurney that was taking Fleur to the closest operation room. The blonde was more injured than Hermione originally thought, and she needed to act fast if she wanted to save the life of the talented chaser.</p><p>"She's got a fractured femur and Doctor Beaumont is still operating her" a nurse checked a magical screen "she will be taken to room 212."</p><p>"Good, please page her to assist me with Fle-I mean, Ms. Delacour when she's done" Hermione hid her blush behind her surgical mask. At this, the nurse smiled. It was a well-known fact all over the hospital that the Gryffindor had a crush on the blonde chaser. Maybe the full-body poster of the gorgeous chaser inside Hermione's locker had something to do with the rumor.</p>
<hr/><p>"'ow is Fleur?" Gabrielle asked worriedly.</p><p>"Well-" a chubby doctor started to be roughly grabbed by the collar by an angry blonde.</p><p>"Tell me where she is" the seeker ordered in a threatening tone while her eyes turned yellow and her hands started to slowly turn into talons.</p><p>"<strong>Miss Delacour, could you please stop choking my intern</strong>?" a severe voice stated from the door "<strong>I have news about your sister</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Is she okay</strong>?" the nervous blonde reverted to her mother tongue.</p><p>"<strong>She had several broken bones that we fixed during surgery</strong>" Hermione stated "<strong>but what worries me is the severe trauma she received in her head</strong>" the English doctor locked eyes with the younger blonde and she had to hide her surprise of seeing the normally cocky player this vulnerable, this broken "<strong>May I ask what happened?</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>We had a very important game against our rivals, the Holyhead harpies</strong>" a wincing Gabrielle shifted in the bed when her leg started hurting once more. The sedatives were wearing down and she was starting to feel the pain of her injuries.</p><p>"<strong>I know, it was the first game of the playoffs</strong>"Hermione blurted, and Gabrielle chuckled.</p><p>"<strong>I take it that you are a fan,</strong>" the blonde seeker asked with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"<strong>I am a fan of the Falcons, of course,</strong>" Hermione promptly replied eliciting a chuckle from the young seeker "<strong>what happened in the game?</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>We were winning and I was not letting any of them score a single point, so the beaters directed the bludgers at me</strong>" Gabrielle's eyes filled with tears "<strong>I was not quick enough and Fleur shielded me taking the hits and we fell from our brooms</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Nobody helped?</strong>" Hermione frowned at the situation. Yes, quidditch can be quite violent but purposely hurting not one but two players was just too much.</p><p>"<strong>Our coach tried to soften the landing, but it was all too quick</strong>" Gabrielle balled her fists in frustration "<strong>Even the seeker from their team tried to help but Fleur hurt herself pretty bad</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>She did it to save you</strong>" Hermione consoled the young seeker.</p><p>"<strong>But now she is in pain because of me</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Well, actually she's not</strong>" the English doctor rubbed the back of her neck. It was never easy to give difficult news to relatives of a patient.</p><p>"<strong>What do you mean</strong>?" dark blue orbs full of remorse stared back at her.</p><p>"<strong>We have her in an induced coma until she recovers from the surgeries we performed</strong>" Hermione replied softly.</p>
<hr/><p>Days turned into weeks and Fleur was healing at a slow pace. Her muscles were regaining their strength and her veela magic was doing wonders. Gabrielle only left her sister's side to go to her own physical therapy.</p><p>When that happened, Apolline Delacour was there to tend her eldest daughter. The matriarch flooed from France and stayed by her children's side. Hermione kept a close eye to Fleur's condition and maintained her relatives updated.</p><p>Exactly two weeks after the unfortunate accident, Fleur was taken off from the meds that kept her slumbering, and she kept sleeping. Hermione was worried as it had never happened to her before.</p><p>What if she had done something wrong? What if the drugs were too strong for Fleur? Had they considered her veela heritage before using certain medications and dosage? Did she mess up?</p><p>"Healer Granger" a struggling voice called from behind and the doctor turned around to see a limping Gabrielle coming towards her with the help of crutches. Beads of sweat accumulated on her forehead due to the effort. She even recurred to her <em>veela</em> heritage to heal faster and be able to move without any other medical equipment. It was not enough.</p><p>"You shouldn't be walking yet, Gabrielle" Hermione released a long sigh. The blonde was too stubborn for her own good "It's been only a month since you got your surgery"</p><p>"I am okay" the seeker replied stubbornly despite the terrible pain she felt even when relying not only on the crutches but her veela wings to steady herself "is Fleur up?"</p><p>"Not yet, but I am looking into that" Hermione gave her a reassuring smile "I will bring her back, I promise."</p>
<hr/><p>It was a rainy Sunday afternoon when Hermione checked Fleur's vitals. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but the elegant blonde just didn't wake up. Apolline went back to her daughters' apartment to rest for the day and Gabrielle was in physical therapy again. It was one of those rare times that the doctor was left alone with the gorgeous patient.</p><p>After making sure everything was okay with the chaser, Hermione sat next to her and observed the blonde breathe. Fleur rested peacefully, her features glistening with the soft rays entering through the window. The blonde hair was carefully brushed and sprawled over the pillow like strands of gold.</p><p>The beautiful and regal neck was slightly marred by a small scar that could be only seen if you were really close to the blonde woman. Hermione tilted her head and smiled at the sight of two beauty marks on her left cheek that the chaser normally covered with makeup. She also had three small freckles on top of her nose.</p><p>"You know, everybody teases me here because they say that I have a crush on you" Hermione chuckled "I do have your summer poster in my locker, so yes, I might have a <em>slight</em> crush on you" the doctor admitted with a crimson face "I mean, <em>look</em> at you, you're such a beautiful and caring woman."</p><p>"Few people know that you volunteer and help orphans" the doctor commented "I saw you last year in the children's wing handing Christmas gifts disguised as Santa, such a noble gesture"</p><p>"I have followed your career for a long time and know how hard you work and how good you have become" Hermione gave the slumbering blonde a wide smile "that is why I know that you will overcome this, so don't you dare to give up-" a beeping sound interrupted her monologue and the doctor sighed after checking her pager "I have to go, but I will be back to check up on you Miss Delacour." Hermione stood and left the room not before giving the sleeping seeker a last glance.</p>
<hr/><p>There's something about darkness that people don't understand. It's that it can also be soothing. The lack of light should not be something scary, and Fleur Delacour knew it very well. She was used to be in the spotlight and also lurk in the darkness.</p><p>The blonde was also used to pain as it basically came with her job. There were so many things the public thought and assumed about her that she stopped caring so long ago about other people's opinions. That was one of the main reasons she didn't care about finding a significant other. The other, her heritage.</p><p>In her culture, there was something called <em>soul compatibility</em> which was a tricky concept. It was when a potential candidate for her affection showed their true worth. The one had to bring her back from any harm and keep her safe.</p><p>That same person would accept the creature within the witch and be loyal to her as veela are quite territorial. That candidate needed to have a pure but courageous heart. Be strong but sensitive, caring, and nurturing. It was not an easy feat that many had already failed, unfortunately.</p><p>Despite that, Fleur believed that her special someone was out there, somewhere. She had to believe that this person would connect with her soul, so her life would have meaning beyond what she knew. Colors would be brighter, and life would be worth living.</p><p>She loved her job, but it wasn't enough. She adored her family, but she wanted more. She would protect her loved ones until her last breath, which was why she didn't think about the potential damage two bludgers could cause her. Her mind focused on one single thing.</p><p>
  <em>Protect Gabrielle.</em>
</p><p>And she did. She landed on the ground and the crack she heard coming from her head afterward resonated all over her body and after that, everything she felt was the pain. She didn't care. Fleur wanted to keep Gabrielle safe at all costs. After a long struggle to know about her sister's whereabouts and losing some control over her inner creature, a woman with amber eyes talked to her in a soothing voice and told her that she had protected her sister, that she had done a great job.</p><p>
  <em>That voice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Who was she?</em>
</p><p>She had heard that same voice several times among the darkness. Checking on her, making sure that she was okay. It was muffled so her memory was the one replaying the soothing sounds until they became clearer. Fleur didn't remember much about the features of her savior, but the tone of her voice and the color of her eyes.</p><p>
  <em>Amber.</em>
</p><p>Now she was curious. Now, she wanted to escape the darkness and meet the stranger that made her a promise. She remembered that much. A promise the woman could not fulfill as Fleur was still trapped in the darkness. She tapped into her creature's magical core in order to get away but was not able to as if an external force was keeping her there forcefully.</p><p>That frustrated her to no end. She wanted to wake up, check on her sister, and play again. To be free, to be herself, unrestrained. But then, the nagging feeling of knowing that life was colorless and just a succession of days and nights that brought nothing but routine made her feel unsatisfied. Fleur wanted more, she wanted all or nothing at all. She had really become cynical. That's why the media followed her everywhere to know everything about her.</p><p>
  <em>If they knew there's nothing else to show.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Nothing.</em>
</p><p>And there it was, that muffled voice again that now sounded a bit clearer. That talked about diagnosis and damage. About hope, and expecting Fleur to wake up. That now she was out of the meds that kept her in the darkness. That she should wake up any day now. Then, she heard her sister's shouts of joy, her mother's tears of happiness.</p><p>
  <em>Any day now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Any day.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Any…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When?</em>
</p><p>But then, she was still there. The darkness continued surrounding her. The muffled and distant voices being her only companion. Along with her veela, Fleur had tried hard to escape the darkness but the layers engulfing her looked like they would never end.</p><p>She felt the progress, though. Now the voices weren't that muffled and with the help of her inner creature, the chaser was able to observe her loved ones through her veela's eyes. It was like looking at them from underwater.</p><p>
  <em>So close, yet so far.</em>
</p><p>And then, she heard that voice again. The one with amber eyes, the same one that promised her sister would be fine. The owner of those lovely amber eyes. She was telling her about a crush she had on her. That she believed in her, that she shouldn't give up. And that brought a smile to her face and a flutter to her heart. Then, Fleur realized something, when the doctor talked, her psyche felt closer to the surface, the sounds became clearer and the darkness receded. That gave her hope.</p>
<hr/><p>A few days later, Hermione had another chance to be alone with her blonde patient when Gabrielle was taking a bath assisted by her mother and a nurse.</p><p>"How is my dear patient today?" the English doctor smiled at the slumbering blonde "your skin is not that pale anymore which is a good sign."</p><p>"You are also breathing by yourself" after approaching the blonde with a small blush and a medical flashlight as she believed that it was more effective than using <em>lumos</em> "your pupils are reacting, that's excellent."</p><p>"I think that you are getting closer to waking up, miss Delacour" Hermione smiled once more.</p><p>"Isn't there a regulation for patients flirting with their comatose patients?" an amused voice stated from the now opened door "you are so naughty, healer Granger."</p><p>"Hermione is fine, Gabrielle" the English doctor scowled at the troublemaker seeker "and no, I was not flirting, just checking your sister's progress."</p><p>"You say that but," the blonde seeker pointed at the doctor's face, "your blush says otherwise."</p><p>"Stop it" Hermione ran a hand through her messy curls "I might say the same about certain redhead chaser that has been visiting you regularly."</p><p>"Touché" Gabrielle chuckled but could not hide her rosy cheeks "in any case, you can talk to my sister, she likes it"</p><p>"How do you know? The examinations-"</p><p>"They can't tell you what I know" the blonde seeker stated firmly "veela of the same family are connected through our <em>magie</em> and every time that you talk to her, our bond grows stronger, which means that you are helping her come back to us."</p><p>"I didn't know that" Hermione mused. There were so some things that she didn't have knowledge about and this one was on that list. A fascinating fact indeed.</p><p>"Of course, you didn't" Gabrielle shrugged "it's part of our culture and we are ridiculously secretive. Don't you see how our <em>maman </em>doesn't look that worried? She knows that everything will be fine with Fleur, so talk to her"</p><p>"But what I am sup-supposed to say?" Hermione stammered. She was caught off guard.</p><p>"That's for you to figure out" Gabrielle smiled at the conflicted face of the doctor "in the meantime, I will go to the cafeteria to have lunch" Gabrielle turned her wheelchair around to leave the room. She finally obeyed after a certain redhead chaser threatened with not visiting her anymore if she didn't compromise, ergo the wheelchair.</p><p>"Lunch date?" Hermione teased a bit more.</p><p>"You could say that" Gabrielle gave her a wide smile before rolling out of the room.</p><p>"Where do I start?" the Gryffindor doctor asked aloud before rubbing the bridge of her nose "well, let's keep it simple, I am Hermione Granger, chief of Trauma and soon to be graduated in magical Neurology, a fan of quidditch and antique books collector, nice to meet you Miss Delacour." The English mediwitch placed her hand on Fleur's left and magical sparks flew everywhere.</p><p>
  <em>That's new.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Fleur looked up when the muffled voices came back. Now it was easier to recognize them. The first one had become her favorite as it belonged to the doctor with amber eyes. The second, with a hint of mischief, was her sister's.</p><p>She could not make out what exactly they were talking about, but she felt a tug forward every time the doctor talked to her. She was getting so close to the surface of her consciousness that could almost feel her astral body and her inner veela going back to where they belonged.</p><p>
  <em>I am Hermione Granger.</em>
</p><p>Fleur smiled at this. She was able to hear the voice clearer now, it was so close yet far. The darkness felt farther while reality felt closer. The feeling of being underwater was slowly dissipating.</p><p>'<em>ermione, that's a pretty name.</em></p><p>And then, a soft touch filled her being with static. The fingers of her left hand twitched and warmth engulfed her. The pull grew stronger and there, in the middle of the darkness, she saw a thread of blue light. It was faint but she saw and felt it. It was a deep connection that she had only felt with her family, but at the same time, completely different that made her feel whole for the first time. But as quick as it appeared, it was cut off.</p><p>
  <em>What happened?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Come back!</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Hermione's visits became more frequent but were normally interrupted by medical emergencies. Every time they came in contact, both felt some sort of reaction. Whether they were sparks or static, both witches were having different effects when their skins softly brushed. From once or twice a week, the visits became a daily affair that was bringing Fleur closer to consciousness. The problem was the length of the visits.</p><p>It was not until a night that Hermione offered to take care of Fleur because Apolline had to go back to France to attend an important veela meeting and Gabrielle was transferred to another room after demanding privacy when Hermione found her making out with the redhead chaser from the Holyhead Harpies, the infamous Ginevra Weasley, that the doctor was able to stay by Fleur's side for more than a few minutes.</p><p>After telling the blonde all about her long day of surgeries and consults, an exhausted Hermione fell asleep while holding the chaser's hand.</p>
<hr/><p>Fleur now floated above the darkness and closer to the surface of her consciousness. She had come a long way after following the blue thread every time it reappeared to the point that she could almost touch her own consciousness with her fingertips.</p><p>
  <em>I am so close.</em>
</p><p>And there it was, the blue thread started to appear once more, stronger than before. This time Fleur was prepared. She took the delicate thread and tied it around her left little finger and pulled at it. The chaser smiled satisfied when it didn't disappear.</p><p>
  <em>This time I will make it back.</em>
</p><p>Fleur started the long way back home, where she belonged, and guided by the blue thread.</p>
<hr/><p>The starry night got into its darker point right before it began to brighten. The stars hid when the moon let the sun rise and soft rays filtered through the curtain of room 212. A soft gasp followed by the blinking of azure orbs welcomed Fleur to an unknown ceiling and a warm sensation coming from her left hand.</p><p>Cerulean lowered to stare at the unmoving limb and a small smile graced her lips when she found the origin of the blue thread. A woman with a mane of brown curls rested her head on her mattress while the chaser's left hand rested in hers.</p><p>The slumbering doctor had several freckles scattered on her cheeks and nose. With a bit of effort, the chaser raised her right hand and placed it on top of the Gryffindor's curls.</p><p>
  <em>So soft.</em>
</p><p>Fleur tried to talk but her vocal cords didn't react after weeks of no use. A dry cough escaped her lips and got louder and longer every time she wanted to speak. The sudden coughs woke the doctor up and surprised amber locked with warm azure for the first time. Years of study finally kicked in and Hermione jumped surprised before getting into doctor mode and pouring a glass of water for the blonde to drink.</p><p>"Welcome back Miss Delacour, I am-"</p><p>"'ermione Granger, I know" Fleur interrupted before extending her now cold left hand after the doctor withdrew hers "the kind doctor that healed me and helped my sister."</p><p>The moment their hands got in contact, Fleur's eyes widened, she had finally felt what <em>soul compatibility</em> really meant. The connection was strong and the <em>magie</em> she saw in the darkness was the one of the witch shaking her hand.</p><p>
  <em>She's the one that brought me home.</em>
</p><p>"A pleasure to finally meet you," Hermione added with a bright smile. She felt as if this blonde stretching her hand would change her life forever.</p><p>"Oh no, 'ermione the pleasure is all mine, trust me" Fleur replied with a soft and raspy voice but full of confidence. She was finally home after chasing after a thread of light and her soul started feeling complete just by Hermione's mere presence. The challenge of getting to know the doctor in front of her had just begun.</p>
<hr/>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. For a good time, wand me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>When a bookworm Hermione has a weird encounter with a drunk Fleur at a party, things did not end well. Eight years later, they are reunited under odd circumstances.<br/>Day 2: Roommates. FleurmioneWeek2020.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First of all, this is way out of my comfort zone. So out of it, that I have mixed feelings. Expect the unexpected is my only advice.<br/>This story was inspired by Perpetual Nonsense's movie recommendation so the fic is loosely based on 'For a good time, call'. Also, she was the beta, and sensei, for this story.<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Day 2: Roommates</p>
<hr/><p>“Come on, ‘mione it’s gunna be fa~bu~lous” her redhead childhood friend spoke in a singsong voice. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger met in the train to Hogwarts and went through a lot together along with Harry Potter.</p><p>The three of them were inseparable. Even after Ron came out of the closet and students bullied him here and there. Luckily, Fred and George were always on the lookout and pranked whoever dared to bother their baby brother. After graduating from Hogwarts, they continued their education on the college branch. Ron as a magical fashion designer, Harry as a Defense against the dark arts teacher while Hermione, always the overachiever, was going for a double degree in Arithmancy and Transfiguration.</p><p>“I don’t want to go to a stupid party, I have so many reports-”</p><p>“Not tonight.”</p><p>“You, too Harry?”</p><p>“You need a break” the dark-haired wizard said with a shrug “it’s only been three months since we started college.”</p><p>“We have midterms in three weeks, Harry” Hermione deadpanned among rolls and rolls of parchments.</p><p>“That’s a lifetime away, baby” Ron waved dismissively.</p><p>“Come on Hermione, just for tonight” Harry insisted.</p><p>“Fine, just for tonight” the studious witch relented, as usual.</p><p>“Yay!” Ron skipped excitedly before turning to look at his friend “now, what are you going to wear?”</p><p>“Here we go again,” Hermione and Harry sighed. Ron could be too much at times.</p>
<hr/><p>“Well, well, well, look who the cat dragged out of her hole,” a dark-haired witch said with a sneer.</p><p>“Hello, Pansy, nice to see you, too” Hermione greeted with a roll of her eyes.</p><p>“Disappear bloody leprechaun” Ron raised his hand at Pansy and the trio walked inside the house. Music blared from the speakers and most of the wizards and witches were already drunk.</p><p>“Here, have a beer” Harry handed Hermione the cold drink and the bookworm drank half of it in two big gulps. “Careful there”</p><p>“I am thirsty, that’s all.” the studious witch added before turning her head to the entrance where she saw the French exchange student.  Fleur Delacour. “Oh look, your crush is here.”</p><p>“Don’t you mean <em>our</em> crush?” Harry teased.</p><p>“You’re bloody kidding” Hermione’s scoff with a tinge of pink in her cheeks. A loud crash caught their attention once more and they witnessed an uncharacteristically clumsy and giggly blonde.</p><p>“Oh” Hermione gasped surprised. The normally cold and distant French exchange student looked completely different now. Her hair that was normally tied up in a ponytail was loose and covered her midback like a silvery blanket. Her lips were colored bright red along with dark red eyeshadow that made her icy eyes pop. And that tight red dress...Merlin, it was sinful just to look at her.</p><p>“Yup, she’s drunk” Harry elbowed his quiet friend.</p><p>“Yeah, hot- I mean yes, drunk, totally drunk” Hermione stammered utterly smitten at the sexy look of a certain blonde exchange student. Suddenly, Fleur was surrounded by some random jocks that took her to the middle of the dance floor and the blonde laughed and danced with them.</p><p>“Well, look at that” Ron appeared out of nowhere, sipping a cosmopolitan “the stuck-up princess has nice moves.”</p><p>“Yeah, not bad” Hermione commented behind her beer.</p><p>“You’re drooling” Harry whispered in his friend ear and she immediately wiped her lips eliciting an amused chuckle from the bespectacled wizard.</p><p>“You guys are bloody idiots” Hermione growled before giving her now empty bottle to Ron “can you get me a refill?”</p><p>“Where ’cha going?” the redhead asked.</p><p>“The loo” Hermione shrugged and crossed the improvised dancefloor to get to the nearest restroom. Cerulean orbs followed her until she disappeared at the end of the hall.</p><p>“And the plot thickens” Ron chuckled observing the curious reaction of Fleur.</p><p>“You were saying?” Harry asked before finishing his beer.</p><p>“That I will go and get you mates some beer” Ron snatched Harry’s bottle and walked towards where Fleur was. The dancing blonde continued swaying her hips without a care in the world until a certain redhead whispered “<em>I know your secret</em>” by her ear to make the French exchange student stop and turn to look at him.</p><p>He signaled her to follow him and the blonde witch walked behind the flamboyant redhead that took three beers from the fridge and gave two to Fleur “<em>she</em> might be inside and <em>might </em>appreciate this” with that, Ron turned around and went back to where Harry was.</p><p>The French witch opened the two bottles with wandless magic, somehow. She was not quite sure how she did it as her drunkenness had her performing magic involuntarily. The only thing that was clear was that she wanted to snog Hermione Granger. The reason? She felt like it, of course.  She was Fleur Delacour after all.  She could do whatever she wanted.</p><p>When Hermione opened the door, she didn’t expect to be running into Fleur and even less, the aforementioned blonde talking to her.</p><p>“’ere” she gave a cold beer to a flabbergasted brunette that just took it and mechanically, took a long sip while trying to figure out how and why the gorgeous French exchange student was standing in front of her and gave her a cold drink.</p><p>“You look so, intriguing ‘ermione” Fleur slurred her words and giggled at the blush of the young bookworm “I like eet”</p><p>Hermione had no time to reply when the blonde witch grabbed her by the lapels of her leather jacket and crashed their lips together and both bodies slammed against the bathroom door.</p><p>
  <em>What’s happening?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So soft.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh.</em>
</p><p>Fleur slid one of her legs between the Gryffindor’s who moaned at the contact. It was as if Hermione was a piano and Fleur was the most talented prodigy and she played her with expert fingers that now trailed under her t-shirt touching the sensitive skin of the bookworm’s stomach and went up to cup her right breast. That snapped Hermione from Fleur’s hypnotic lips and talented digits.</p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p>With a soft push, Hermione made the blonde stop her attack against her lips and neck that now burned in some spots “What-”</p><p>“I don’t feel good” Fleur whispered and lowered her head and Hermione felt a mixture between shyness and embarrassment.</p><p>“Hey, how about-” the Gryffindor was not able to finish her offering when Fleur discharged all the content of her stomach all over Hermione’s new t-shirt. She could only stand there shocked as Fleur tried to go in to kiss her again. She was clearly far too inebriated and although she wanted to yell at her for doing something so vile, she knew there were more pressing matters.</p><p><em>Oh, hell no.</em> </p><p>“How about we sit for a moment?” Hermione asked as she held the blonde at arm’s length.  Fleur only stumbled back as Hermione opened the bathroom door and guided the clumsy blonde inside.</p><p>After closing the door behind them, the Gryffindor closed the lid of the toilet and made Fleur sit. Trying really hard to fight nausea, Hermione cleaned as much of the blonde’s stomach content remaining on her t-shirt and jacket. The strong smell of alcohol, among other things, was making her want to retch and causing her stomach to stir. </p><p>With her own clothing somewhat sorted out, she soaked a towel with water from the sink, and cleaned Fleur’s face that was now smiling at her and whispering sweet nothings in her mother tongue. Delicate fingers played with one of her brown curls while the Gryffindor tried hard to keep the blonde from falling and hitting her face on the tub while getting rid of the small vomit drops that stained Fleur’s gorgeous red dress. The blonde was an utter giggling mess and Hermione still didn’t understand why all of this happened.</p><p>One of the jocks that was previously dancing with Fleur clumsily stumbled into the bathroom and upon seeing Hermoine’s dirty attire, started laughing. The French blonde’s giggles grew louder when she saw what he was laughing at before slurring a not so quiet ‘<em>Vomit Granger</em>’ that immediately caught on to the other guys gathered up around the bathroom’s open door. Soon, all the house was chanting the ridiculous nickname.</p><p>A furious Hermione tried to leave the bathroom to save some dignity but a gentle hand wrapped around her wrist kept her rooted on the spot “take me with you” Fleur whispered amongst the ‘<em>vomit Granger</em>’ chants of the annoying guys. After releasing a long sigh, Hermione locked eyes with remorseful blues and made up her mind.</p><p>“Let’s go” the Gryffindor pulled the blonde with her despite the protests of the jocks surrounding them. Trying to calm things down, Fleur blew a kiss at them and the guys cheered before restarting their annoying chant against Hermione when the brown-haired witch pulled Fleur with her and walked past them. By that time, the ‘Vomit Granger’ spread like the plague and now the shouts with the stupid nickname were louder than the blaring music coming from the speakers.</p><p>Noticing the sudden departure of their friend and a certain blonde, Harry and Ron followed suit and found Hermione outside holding Fleur’s hair back while the French witch threw up again, this time on the Gryffindor’s shoes. After wiping her face clumsily, Fleur giggled and pointed at a sighing Hermione “Vomit Granger” and burst into a fit of drunk laughter.</p><p>“Such a keeper” Ron whispered and Harry tried hard to suppress a chuckle.</p><p>“Guys, help me” Hermione pleaded while her own desire of throwing up peaked. Ron and Harry grabbed Fleur by her arms to keep her steady while Hermione used a cleaning spell on her shoes.</p><p>
  <em>Why didn’t I think about this earlier?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Great job, Granger.</em>
</p><p>“We can’t apparate with her in this state” Harry pondered.</p><p>“My place is the closest. She can sleep in my room and I will sleep on the couch.” Hermione offered and scowled at the suspicious looks of her friends “She’s drunk and vulnerable guys. Come on, give me some credit.”</p><p>“That’s how Molly caught Arthur and here I am a bunch of siblings later” Ron waved nonchalantly.</p><p>“Ew, Ron” Hermione grimaced.</p><p>“Really, mate” Harry shook his head.</p><p>“What? It’s true” Ron pouted before turning to Hermione “I am glad your place is the closest coz she looks fit but she’s heavy like a bunch of bricks.”</p><p>“Sexy bricks with hair like liquid gold” Harry blurted and Hermione scowl’s deepened “what? it’s true”</p><p>“Yeah, it is” the bookworm remembered the glorious moment Fleur lips grazed her own and a deep blush burned on her cheeks that was promptly interrupted by the blonde’s vomiting sounds.</p><p>“Blimey, just how many times can a person puke?” Ron asked while skipping away when some vomit threatened to stain his new designer's shoes.</p><p>The next morning, Fleur Delacour woke up in an unfamiliar room. The place was full of books and parchments. The desk had seen better days as it was stained with dry ink and dust. The young veela thanked all the goddesses for the kind soul that left a glass of water, some headache muggle pills, and a potion.</p><p><em>Whoever you are, I love you.</em>  </p><p>After taking everything and washing it with the glass of water, Fleur noticed something that made her feel scared the moment she raised the sheets and stared at her naked form “where are my clothes?” the rapping of knuckles against the bedroom’s door alerted her. She was well-versed in wandless magic in case she needed to defend herself, after all.</p><p>“Good morning” Hermione whispered anxiously while carrying a tray with some toast, jam, and butter along with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The little vase with a Lilly was a nice touch. In other circumstances, Fleur Delacour would have been kind and receptive to the nice gesture, but the fact that she was butt naked under the sheets made her feel vulnerable and defensive.</p><p>“My clothes” Fleur spat while extending her left hand.</p><p>“Oh, right” Hermione blushed horribly before leaving the tray on the bed “I washed your dress since it was all dirty”</p><p>“You didn’t have to” the French witch snatched the red dress from Hermione’s hand and stood from the bed in all her glory before glaring at the petrified blushing mess in front of her “do you mind?”</p><p>“N-no, of course,” the Gryffindor left the room in a hurry. At this, a smirking Fleur got dressed, drank the coffee, and ate the toast with butter and jam, just the way she liked it. She pretended that she didn’t care, but deep inside she did.</p><p>The bedroom door suddenly opened, making Hermione jump in surprise. A fully dressed Fleur was putting on her left stiletto and was looking glorious. It was almost as if she hadn’t gone through drunk hell and dragged Hermione with her, at all.</p><p>“My bag” the blonde ordered and Hermione handed it to her. Fleur grabbed it so fast that Hermione felt her palm burning. The elegant exchange witch walked towards the front door and opened it, not before half turning her face and giving a condescending look to Hermione with a raised eyebrow “the coffee was too bitter.” A slam was heard and the Gryffindor was infuriated and speechless.</p><p>“You’re <em>bloody</em> welcome, prat” Hermione yelled at the top of her lungs and headed to take a really long and hot shower.</p><p>
  <em>The nerve of some people.</em>
</p><p>Unbeknown to the raging Gryffindor, a certain blonde witch leaned against the front door of Hermione’s apartment when memories of last night popped up. As a reflex, Fleur Delacour touched her lower lip with her fingertips and smiled. That tingling sensation remained.</p><p>
  <em>‘ermione Granger, such a feisty lioness.</em>
</p><p>After that, Fleur ignored Hermione. When the French witch finished the exchange semester, she went back to France and they never talked again. Unfortunately for Hermione, things were a bit tougher. The nickname v<em>omit Granger </em>stuck with her until she graduated.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Eight years later</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Hermione Granger felt tired and annoyed to no end. She had been together with Percy Weasley for the last four years, but something was missing. They clicked the moment they ran into each other at Hogwarts’ college library and grabbed the same Arithmancy book. Percy was one of Ron’s older brothers, the one considered an outcast when he went to work for the ministry as an unspeakable.</p><p>Due to the nature of his job, the man was even more secretive than he was during his time at Hogwarts. What people didn’t know was that the wizard had the same charm his brother Bill had and thanks to that, got one of the best witches there was. Hermione Granger, a brilliant witch with a bright future.</p><p>That was before, now Hermione felt stagnant and she hated it. Sex with Percy was so intense in the beginning, but now it was just a repetition of the same thrust and pull without any foreplay, any spice, not even a kiss anymore.</p><p>The Gryffindor could recite all the elements of the magical periodic table of elements by memory at this point and be more excited about spelling a hard transition metal than sex with the now balding man on top of her.</p><p>
  <em>It is time for a change.</em>
</p><p>People say that you have to be careful with the things you wish for as you might get them. That’s exactly what Hermione thought days after breaking up with Percy. Right after the moment she was fired from her job as a magical art curator when one of her advanced transfigurations went wrong and all the blame landed on her.</p><p>Now, jobless and with just some saved money, the once considered brightest of her generation, was about to be evicted from the apartment she lived in with Percy when she discovered that the wizard owed three months of overdue rent.</p><p>After paying a debt that was not hers, Hermione had little money left to rent an apartment, so she decided to find one more affordable that she could share. Unfortunately, the real state in London was quite tricky and too pricey so the talented woman was running out of options fast until Ron came to the rescue.</p><p>“First of all, you know I love you” Ron stared at the sulking brunette packing her things in boxes “but you need to stop this depressing vibe” the redhead shook as if hit by a chill “it’s just creating this heavy atmosphere of sadness and despair.”</p><p>“Do you want me to skip happily after this? I am being kicked out and I got fired from my job” Hermione spat angrily while raising her hands in exasperation “I have no place to live and barely have money for rent.”</p><p>Ron kept quiet for a few seconds observing how Hermione now shoved her unfolded clothes in a box and labeled it. He waited one more minute while his angry friend mumbled to herself and finally sat back on the couch.</p><p>“I have a place for you” Ron finally spoke.</p><p>“You do?” Hermione tilted her head in suspicion. Ron didn’t have the best record when recommending things for her, but this time the curator was desperate.</p><p>“Yes, but you’ll have to promise me that you will keep an open mind” Ron slowly added.</p><p>“I have a bad feeling about this” Hermione replied with a scowl.</p><p>“Have a little faith, my young and sexy lion” Ron waved his hands and the brown-haired witch remembered all the times her dear <em>friend</em> suggested something and how disastrous the results were but this time, she decided to keep quiet and listen.  </p><p>“Remember that magical series <em>Pals</em> and the apartment Morgana and Rachielle shared? Well, this is way better.  More light, bigger windows, and a fabulous view and in the best neighborhood.”</p>
<hr/><p>Ron was right. The area was one of the best ones to live in.  It had quiet streets, big parks nearby, and one of the biggest libraries in the city just blocks away. Not even in her wildest dreams had she thought she would be living in this place and now she was so about to thanks to her dear friend Ron.</p><p>Hermione went up the second floor and stood in front of the door of the apartment ‘2D’ and knocked softly. She just needed to meet the girl, convince her to accept her as a roommate, take a look around the apartment, and move in. She was sure that this was the right place for her.</p><p>Steps approaching were heard inside the apartment before the door opened abruptly and both women stared at each other with wide eyes.</p><p>“You!” both yelled at unison. After so long without seeing each other Hermione Granger saw the regal figure of Fleur Delacour standing in front of her with a perplexed expression. Ron popped from behind Fleur eating a bao.</p><p>“Glad you could make it ‘mione, come on in” He pushed Fleur gently so the curator could enter the flat “look at all this space, the light, hardwood floors, isn’t this place to die for?”</p><p>“I guess” Hermione quietly replied. She was deep in thought. Here was the woman that had kissed her like there was no tomorrow but also threw up on her with the same intensity.</p><p>Fleur was in the same state if not, worse. When Ron told her about a potential roommate, the blonde witch accepted without a second thought as she hadn’t paid the mortgage for two months and Gringotts sent her an order of eviction effective in exactly two weeks unless she give them half of the money she owed, and she knew better than to mess with goblins. Of course, she needed a roommate, but this one in front of her was not any ordinary witch.</p><p>
  <em>Hermione Granger.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We finally see each other again.</em>
</p><p>“This is the flat.  Two bedrooms, an office, kitchen, living room, big bookcase, and another one empty for your books” Fleur shrugged with fake disinterest while Ron rolled his eyes.</p><p>
  <em>It’s been eight bloody years and these two haven’t let the past go?</em>
</p><p>“So? Isn’t it fabulous?” Ron clapped his hands, trying to ease the tension. He grabbed Hermione by the arm and led her to the empty room.</p><p>“Imagine all of this with your parchments, books and research” the redhead skipped towards the window “and you can put your armchair here so you can read with natural light during the day.  Just absolutely gorgeous~” the fashion designer singsonged while Hermione considered her options.</p><p>
  <em>Affordable price, I can move in immediately.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Spacious and bright, great location. </em>
</p><p><em>All good but, Fleur. </em>   </p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me it was <em>her</em>?” Hermione asked with an irritated tone.</p><p>“Because you wouldn’t accept and look at <em>this </em>place” Ron extended his arms wide “it’s fantastic”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“No buts Hermione, it’s a great deal”</p><p>“Are you taking it or not?” Fleur asked from the door with a bored look.</p><p>“Ok, you two, let’s go to the living room, chop, chop” an annoyed Ron grabbed both witches by the wrist and dragged them to a big couch in the middle of the living room.</p><p>“Now, indifferent and grumbling, you need to work on not holding into what happened in college” Ron sat on an armchair in front of the witches and crossed his legs “bloody hell, it was eight years ago, get over it!”</p><p>“Bien” Fleur conceded in her mother tongue before turning to look at Hermione. She had certainly grown up and looked absolutely stunning with her tanned skin and freckled nose “I apologize for what happened eight years ago”</p><p>“You were rude” Hermione retorted with a scowl.</p><p>“I was rude and vomited all over you” Fleur tried to avoid conflict.</p><p>“And the nickname”</p><p>“Oui, I apologize for that. too” the blonde witch relented “and leaving the next day and not even saying thank you”</p><p>“And ignoring me”</p><p>“Bien, that too” Fleur was about to lose it. Ron sensed it and quickly stood and sat in between the arguing witches.</p><p>“Now that everything is solved” the redhead slapped his legs before hugging them “how about a housewarming party with lots of booze?” the glare he received from amber and azure made him roll his eyes “blimey, at least you agreed on something.”</p>
<hr/><p>Three days later, Hermione finally moved in. With a ridiculously fake smile, Fleur gave the Gryffindor a set of keys for their new shared flat. They didn’t argue, but they didn’t talk to each other much either. It was as if they silently agreed on just sharing a living space, nothing more.</p><p>Two nights after moving, Hermione was revising her newest job applications and freelance restorations when she got thirsty. The brown-haired witch grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the tap before returning to her room. Suddenly, she heard muffled sounds coming from Fleur’s room. The closer Hermione got, the louder the moans became. The young curator blushed up to the tips of her ears.</p><p>
  <em>Bloody hell, she has someone over.</em>
</p><p>Hermione walked briskly past Fleur’s door and quietly closed her own. Her focus was gone, revising those freelance restorations was a task for another day. Despite not hearing the blonde anymore, she could almost feel the raspy sound of Fleur’s voice moaning by her ear, licking and biting her neck, kissing her again with desperation.</p><p>Before she noticed, Hermione Granger, master in arithmancy and magical art restoration through transfiguration; one of the smartest witches of her generation was lying in bed with her hand in her undone shorts. Completely turned on just by hearing Fleur moan.</p><p>She reminisced the time the blonde’s fingers went under her t-shirt and how soft the touch was. She even cupped her right breast the same way Fleur did that time and her fingertips tugged at the top of her mound that immediately perked so she directed her attention to the left one and tugged at the tip of it.</p><p>The sensation made her feel warm between her legs. She still remembered how Fleur played with her brown curls and pulled at them to get access to Hermione’s lips. Goosebumps went down the curator’s arms and legs. A tingling sensation down below made her run her nails up her thighs; from her lips, a guttural moan escaped and it was as if Fleur was right beside her touching her.</p><p>The moment Hermione grazed her pearl-sized organ, a surprised gasp was heard when she realized that her normal dampness while pleasuring herself was nothing compared to what she was feeling right now.</p><p>
  <em>Wow. I am so wet.</em>
</p><p>The curator replayed in her head all the moans that she heard coming from Fleur’s lips and her fingers started stroking her bundle of nerves. She didn’t know if she should just go fast and release all the tension or take it slow and enjoy every second of it. She chose the latter.</p><p>Her left hand never leaving her left erect mound, she started tugging at the hardened peak, there was a thought to pinch it harder, but was dismissed for later consideration. Instead, she focused on those moans plaguing her thoughts of a certain blonde in the next room. She tried hard to find her own rhythm, a harmony between lower strokes and upper pinches and tugs. She felt how the sensations peaked, how the pace had to increase or she would lose her mind.</p><p>The loudness of her own moans muffled the ones in her mind when she finally found the perfect spot while an oscillating rhythm put her closer to the edge. The abyss was right there and she just wanted to fall. She dropped her restrains and increased the pace of her strokes. It was right there; she could almost touch it. Just a bit more, faster, harder. Her toes curled, she was a step away from the abyss and she stopped, her middle finger taking all the heat that irradiated from her moist center.</p><p>
  <em>Just a bit. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hold it.</em>
</p><p>When she felt her nipples go impossibly harder, she knew that it was time. Hermione resumed touching herself at a faster pace and pinched one of her mounds as hard as she was capable while her fingers stroking the bundle of nerves focused on a single point.</p><p>
  <em>Just right there.</em>
</p><p>And then she felt it, that last breath before jumping into the abyss of her orgasm. Her legs jerked and her breath hitched while her back arched; she wanted to enjoy the moment fully so she kept the pace and prolonged her release as long as she could. A long moan escaped her now dry lips and her body continued shaking while she floated back to where mortals lived.</p><p>Then, when her heart started beating normally, the curator came back to her senses. Reality fell on her like a heavy burden that not even Atlas would be able to hold on his back. There was a clear and unavoidable fact.</p><p>
  <em>I just touched myself thinking about Fleur and her sweet moans.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fuck.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>The next day Hermione woke up early and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth before cooking some breakfast to start the day right, or so she thought. A door opened and a disheveled Fleur came out just wearing an oversized shirt and lace panties. Hermione swallowed hard when the blonde entered the bathroom and turned to look at the curator who just stared at her.</p><p>“I didn’t think that the prestigious and studious ‘ermione Granger had a fetish with peeing girls” Fleur teased with an arrogant smirk.</p><p>“For Merlin, can you just wait until I finish brushing my teeth?” the curator protested with her mouth full of foam. And Fleur let out a loud giggle at the sight of a normally serious and proper Hermione with a white mouth as if she had magical rabies. It was a hilarious sight. Even the serious curator chuckled at the absurdity of the situation.</p><p>“I am done, see?” Hermione announced and showed Fleur her white and shiny teeth and the blonde gave her a genuine smile that made the Gryffindor recall what she did last night. A deep blush covered her features before she placed her toothbrush in the holder before turning to leave “you can have the bathroom now.” Fleur tilted her head confused at the sudden attitude change of her roommate. A small frown invaded her features.</p><p>
  <em>I don’t quite understand you, Hermione Granger.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Thanks to Harry’s friend Luna, Hermione got an interview to work in a small art gallery near her place. Unfortunately, due to what happened in her previous job, word had spread and nobody wanted to hire her as a magical art curator.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe it is time to find a different kind of job.</em>
</p><p>She placed her keys in the bowl by the entrance. It was a bit late and Hermione frowned when she saw the lights off. It was rare that Fleur wasn’t around to greet her. In the last couple of weeks, their relationship had improved despite the Gryffindor’s shyness around the blonde.</p><p>Assuming that Fleur might be asleep, Hermione tiptoed towards her room until she heard the blonde’s voice coming from her room.</p><p>“No, I don’t like it in here, please let me out,” Fleur said and the curator got closer to her roommate’s door “let me out, please”</p><p>“I am scared, don’t hurt me” Fleur added in an anxious tone that sounded a bit off. Fearing that the blonde could be in danger, Hermione withdrew her wand and kicked the door open to find the French witch with her wand in her left hand with purple steam coming out from it.</p><p>“I just…” Fleur stopped in her tracks and her face turned crimson “…did you cum? Great bye.” Amber stared dumbly at azure while the French witch undid the spell and the purple mist ceased.</p><p>“What? You’ve never heard about magical voice sex connections?” Fleur spat and Hermione snapped out of it.</p><p>“I have not” the curator shook her head several times “I read about it-”</p><p>“Reading is not what you do with <em>this,</em>” Fleur pointed at her wand “you get good galleons for pretending you care about lonely men and women that need <em>release.</em>”</p><p>“Um,” Hermione was speechless.</p><p>“I’m assuming you want to know the story behind this.” Fleur groaned as she pointed at her wand while the Gryffindor just nodded dumbly.</p><p>“After graduation, my parents died in an accident so I ‘ad to take care of my baby sister. I left France because the memories were too painful” Fleur poured two glasses of wine and gave one to Hermione “Gabrielle was only fourteen when they passed away so I ‘ad to find a way to get money fast and I found this little ad on the quibbler, I passed the interview and here I am.”</p><p>“That was a long time ago” Hermione commented before taking a sip of her wine.</p><p>“You are correct, oui” Fleur replied “but bills never stop coming and since Gabrielle is still in Beauxbatons’ college, I have to pay almost everything and potion making is very competitive so I had to diversify”</p><p>“So, how does it work?” Hermione asked clearly curious, her amber eyes shining with interest.</p><p>
  <em>She’s cute.</em>
</p><p>“Um, well I just follow what they start saying and a lick here and there” Fleur’s voice turned deeper and Hermione shifted in her seat; her mind plagued with thoughts of <em>that </em>night she heard Fleur moan and what she did afterward “dirty words are common, the kinkier the better. The French accent ‘elps too.”</p><p>“I-I see” Hermione could not help but stammer, her mind running wild scenarios “so, how do you get the calls?”</p><p>“I contact the company and tell them when I have time and they forward the calls” Fleur replied while finishing her wine “do you want more?”</p><p>“Sure” Hermione replied while following the blonde’s swaying hips before crashing with amused blues staring back at her. “How much are the clients paying?” The blushing Gryffindor asked as she lowered her gaze.</p><p>“Around twenty sickles and I get a quarter of it” Fleur shrugged before having more wine “which in good months is enough to live a modest life.”</p><p>“Well, using your wand is quite smart” Hermione mused, her mind doing some calculations “the company gets three-quarter of the profits though and you are the talent.  Why don’t you just create your own hotline and keep all of the profit?”</p><p>“Isn’t that quite complicated?” Fleur asked with interest.</p><p>“Not really, you just-” Hermione had some wine “get permission in the communications branch of the ministry for authorization of magical connections and they will give you a new wand ID print and guards to avoid revealing spells.  Then, you set a WitchPal account to charge for the <em>service</em>” the curator shrugged “tell your regular clients about the new connection, and you are done.”</p><p>“How about this, mademoiselle Granger” Fleur approached the Gryffindor with a sly smirk “you help me set this up and I will pay half of your rent.”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Hermione rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment and tried hard to look away but Fleur grabbed her by the chin and drew closer.</p><p>“S’il vous plait, ‘ermione” the blonde pleaded in a sultry voice and French accent she knew the brunette could not say no to. She was right.</p><p>“Fi-fine, you set the WitchPal account and I will go to the Ministry” Hermione commented while trying to make her blush go away. It was ineffective.</p><p>“Merci ‘ermione” Fleur kissed her on both cheeks and turned to observe how her wand started vibrating “this is one of my new regulars Bella from Azkaban, she has a kink for the dark arts, and I am not talking about <em>magic</em>” Fleur giggled as Hermione’s face flushed. It was going to be a long and sleepless night for a certain Gryffindor trying hard to ignore her growing attraction to the French witch despite her <em>peculiar</em> job.</p>
<hr/><p>It didn’t take long for Hermione to get everything in order and for the girls to come up with a name.  The new service was called <em>wand me</em>, a double innuendo that became quite a success among lonely wizards and even more with neglected witches. Fleur and Hermione soon hired an additional <em>talent</em> behind Ron’s back. Ginny Weasley that was studying her senior year in Hogwarts’ college branch in London. It was a great move that made the business bloom even more.</p><p>With Ginny and Hermione’s help, Fleur’s potion business increased its sales as well since the former knew better and cheaper ingredients while the latter suggested to focus in something that was uncharted waters in the magical world, <em>aphrodisiac potions</em>.</p><p>Fleur was not able to deny anymore that what started as a business partnership was slowly evolving into something of deeper meaning. The blonde witch had not forgotten about that kiss and it became a common occurrence that her eyes lingered on Hermione’s lips. Even Ginny noticed and teased the blonde to no end.</p><p>Of course, Fleur knew about that night Hermione pleasured herself after hearing her on a call with one of her regulars. How could she possibly forget how delightful Hermione Granger sounded in the throes of passion? She hadn’t said anything about it, but it was why the French witch started approaching the brunette more. A touch here, a sweet smile there, all in all, Fleur was taking her time to win Hermione’s heart.</p><p>On the other hand, the Gryffindor was having a hard time trying to keep the flirty blonde at bay. Her closeness was driving Hermione to the border of insanity. She wanted to take their partnership to a new level but was afraid of being rejected. It was so cliché that it disgusted her.</p>
<hr/><p>“You two are bloody idiots,” Ginny told Hermione during brunch one day while Fleur was at Gringotts finally paying all the mortgage for her apartment.</p><p>“Why?” the curator asked with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>“Just get together already” the redhead rolled her eyes “it’s frustrating.”</p><p>“Tell me about it,” a third voice intervened after taking a long sip of her mimosa “If I hear Fleur say one more word about how cute ‘ermione looks with her bouncy curls, I am going to puke.”</p><p>“Actually, I have a question” Hermione raised an eyebrow at the two women in front of her. “How did this” she pointed from one to the other “happen?”</p><p>“We met during a seminar I took here in London” Gabrielle calmly replied while Ginny smiled “she was late and sat in the last available chair that was next to me.”</p><p>“And well, she fell for my charm” Ginny bragged and Hermione chuckled.</p><p>“Maybe it was her sexy voice, who knows” Gabrielle shrugged just to giggle when Ginny kissed her on the cheek “the rest is history”</p><p>“We <em>saw </em>the rest of that <em>history </em>the other day on our couch” Fleur added while she took a seat by Hermione who smiled and served her roommate a mimosa. It was their day off and they decided to celebrate Gabrielle’s graduation that had been just a week ago “I don’t want to be an aunt yet”</p><p>“Single aunt, you mean” Gabrielle rubbed Ginny’s belly and Fleur dropped her fork.</p><p>“You are pregnant?” Hermione asked in disbelief while the older French witch opened and closed her mouth but no words came out.</p><p>“Of course, not” Ginny and Gabrielle burst into laughter.</p><p>“But the look of your faces was priceless” the younger Delacour wiped her tears just to be replaced with new ones.</p><p>“Have I told you how much I hate that these two got together?” an irritated Fleur whispered by Hermione’s ear.</p><p>“Around 10 to 12 times, but who’s counting?” the brown-haired replied with an amused chuckle at her roommate’s sulking expression. Hermione thought that Fleur couldn’t look cuter until she saw her like that.</p><p>“<em>Couple de l’enfer</em>” Fleur mumbled in her native tongue while the rest just laughed.</p>
<hr/><p>Later that week, Hermoine was sitting alone in the living room, flipping through a book while Fleur worked in her room. Ginny asked for the night off to go on a date with Gabrielle so Fleur covered for all her regulars. Everything was running smoothly with the business with Hermione handling billing through WitchPal and Fleur all the calls. Until, the last of Ginny’s regulars called asking for a threesome.</p><p>“’old on a second,” Fleur tersely spoke before flicking her wand to put the call on hold “’ermione!”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I need you here” the blonde added with <em>that tone</em> that Hermione could not say no to.</p><p>“Coming” Hermione yelled back. Seconds later, she entered Fleur’s room to see her clad in a button-up white shirt that was entirely too tight and blue lingerie. “What’s the matter?”</p><p>“This client” the blonde pointed at the wand “wants a three-some”</p><p>
  <em>Oh. </em>
</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“Only one time, please ‘ermione” Fleur pleaded while cupping the brunette’s cheek.</p><p>“I don’t think . . . I mean, I’m not-”  Hermione stammered.</p><p>“It will be fine.”  Fleur sighed.  “I will lead the whole zing. Just do this for me s’il vous plait.”</p><p>“Just this one time” Hermione stated in a serious tone.</p><p>“I promise” the blonde raised her right hand.</p><p>“You’re left-handed so that doesn’t count” the brunette scowled.</p><p>“Fine” Fleur raised her left hand “I swear that this is the only time my dear ‘ermione will be having wand connection sex with me.”</p><p>“That’s not the name-”</p><p>“You understood, stop being stubborn and wand with me”</p><p>“Fine” Hermione sighed deeply before looking at Fleur with renewed determination “let’s do this.”</p><p>“Bien!” Fleur replied in her mother tongue before kissing the brunette’s cheeks.</p><p>“I apologize for ze wait, monsieur” the blonde spoke in a thick accent that was rare to hear coming from her anymore “we were just getting more comfortable.”</p><p>“I see” a deep voice replied, “so what are you girls wearing?”</p><p>“I am wearing blue lacy lingerie” Fleur replied with that raspy voice that set Hermione’s senses on fire.</p><p>“I-I have a similar set in red” the brunette stammered when Fleur waved her hand for her to chime in.</p><p>“Excuse her, monsieur but she’s a virgin on this so she’s nervous” the blonde witch added while taking one of Hermione’s hands in hers.</p><p>“A virgin? I like it” the man replied, “so, miss virgin, describe your friend...wait, what’s your name again?”</p><p>“Lacy,” Fleur smirked into the receiver.</p><p>“And...who is the other one?”</p><p>“Um...”  Hermione’s eyes bulged as she struggled to come up with a name. “Gracey?”</p><p>“Lacy and Gracey...that will get confusing later on when I’m wanking off, but okay.”  He shook his head. “So Lacy, I know what you look like, but what does Gracey look like?”</p><p>“Well...” Fleur licked her lips as she eyed Hermione up and down in her pajama shorts and tight white shirt. “She ees quite fit...‘as gorgeous tan skin, long curly hair zat you just want to tangle your ‘ands in...bright brown eyes you could get lost in...soft full lips...” She trailed off as her blue eyes drifted down to Hermione’s mouth.</p><p>“Ooh, okay.” He grinned to himself, his voice fading into the background while Hermione tried to remember to breathe. Fleur was looking at her in <em>that </em>way again. Was she still pretending? </p><p>“It sounds like Lacy is getting hot and bothered.” The guy continued on even though neither one of them was really listening to him anymore. “What do you plan to do with that French bombshell Gracey?” </p><p>“I’m going to rip that lingerie off and make her scream my name so many times, she’s going to forget her own.” Hermione blurted and covered her mouth with her hands, shocked at what had slipped out of her mouth. </p><p>Fleur raised an eyebrow, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips as she inched closer.  She definitely didn’t look shocked or displeased by Hermione’s statement.</p><p>“And you, hot piece of French ass? Anything you want to do to the virgin in front of you?” the man asked while unzipping his pants.</p><p>“So many zings, monsieur” Fleur grabbed Hermione by the collar of her t-shirt and made her kneel on the bed facing her “that your ears will melt if I tell you ‘alf of zem.”</p><p>“I think my ears can handle it.” He sounded a little annoyed by Fleur’s lack of description, but she hardly cared when Hermione was looking at her like she wanted to devour her.  She wanted to see if the brunette was capable of doing what she just boasted.</p><p>“I would start wiz running my ‘and up her zigh...” Fleur mumbled as she moved in closer, brushing her nose against the nape of the Gryffindor’s neck, inhaling her sweet scent.  “While I started kissing ‘er neck...” Fleur continued while her lips ghosted over the skin her nose had just touched, eliciting goosebumps while Hermione stiffened.  </p><p>“Fleur.” Hermione moaned softly while Fleur pulled her even closer.</p><p>“Wait, what?” The man asked, growing more confused by the second.</p><p>“I-I mean...Lacy.” Hermione quickly corrected herself while Fleur smiled to herself.</p><p>“I zink Gracey ees getting confused,” Fleur growled playfully as she pulled Hermione closer.  “I feel ze same. I can ‘ardly focus when someone so beautiful is sitting right before me, ready to be taken.”</p><p>“Do you mean it?” Hermione asked softly while she placed her hands on Fleur’s hips.</p><p>“Every single word” the blonde couldn’t take anymore and crashed their lips together, just like all those years ago. This time she won’t let Hermione go. With a swift wandless move, the brunette canceled the call and ripped Fleur’s shirt open while the blonde used her wand to strip them both.</p><p>“You are gorgeous ‘ermione Granger” the blonde witch said in awe.</p><p>“Shut up and kiss me, Fleur” the brunette flipped them over and she was the one on top now.</p><p>“Oh, that is not ‘appening, mon amour” the blonde tried to be on top but Hermione held her ground.</p><p>“You have no idea how much I wanted to do this” Hermione purred by Fleur’s ear and the blonde melted when the brunette lowered to her chest, captured a nipple with her lips, and tugged at the tip. Heat ran through the blonde’s veins and her skin ignited; Hermione had such an effect on her. Everything was all brand-new like she was blind and suddenly, she could see light for the first time.</p><p>“And this” the brunette whispered while shifting and thrusting her hips between Fleur’s legs eliciting a loud moan from the blonde. The contact of tanned skin brushing against the lighter of the French witch was driving her insane.</p><p>
  <em>I need more.</em>
</p><p>Fleur pulled at brunette curls and crashed their lips together one more time. The blonde’s tip of her tongue wetting Hermione’s lips that just captured it between her lips and sucked at the moist muscle.</p><p>With this, Fleur lost it. Her eyes darkened and her nails scratched Hermione’s back before flipping her over. The blonde was now on top. Some things are just meant to be that way.</p><p>“You like to tease too much” Fleur raised her body a little so only the tips of their breasts were touching. She even raised her pelvis so the touch felt like torture. The blonde swayed her erect nipples against Hermione’s that perked immediately and moaned with such want and lust that Fleur’s knees went weak.</p><p>She quickly recovered and bit Hermione’s neck while trapping her wrists with her left hand. “I like to tease, too mon coeur” the blonde made a swirling motion with her one free finger and Hermione raised her gaze to see her wrist trapped with thin magical ropes.</p><p>“You sneaky little-” the brunette couldn’t finish her sentence when Fleur’s body thrust against her and the blonde’s glistening lips trapped hers. Hermione’s amber eyes widened when she felt a soft caress going up to her inner thigh. She tried to look down but Fleur’s lips kept her in place.</p><p>Not a second later, a moan escaped her busy lips when the blonde found her pearl-shape bundle of nerves and stroke it in a way that made Hermione almost peak right there. The French witch was indeed talented with those gorgeous fingers of hers.</p><p>
  <em>Not yet, not yet.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Keep it together, Granger.</em>
</p><p>Hermione leaned back and withdrew her lips from Fleur’s to calm her raging urges and take a hold of her almost release before it happened. Noticing this, the blonde witch slowed the pace and started kissing Hermione’s neck and collarbone to help her racing heart calm down a bit.</p><p>“Breathe, mon coeur” Fleur whispered between kisses and gentle strokes “focus on the softness of my lips, the tone of my voice.”</p><p>“I-” Hermione’s mind was blank. She couldn’t think anymore, all her senses were overloaded thanks to the gorgeous French blonde pleasing her in one of the many ways she had dreamed of.</p><p>“Just feel, don’t think” Fleur whispered before going down leaving a trail of kisses behind. And then, Hermione felt it. The blonde’s tongue was toying with her swollen bundle of nerves; it felt so good that the brunette didn’t want it to end, but Fleur had other plans and slid two digits inside her entrance while increasing the pace of her tongue.</p><p>That was all Hermione needed to come undone. There she was, falling in the never-ending abyss of Fleur’s passion, the one she had craved for so long and was now within her reach. She felt complete, she felt satisfied for the first time. And her body reacted to the biggest climax she had ever experienced.</p><p>
  <em>Wow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just bloody wow.</em>
</p><p>After she shaky limbs calmed down, a grinning Hermione turned to look at the sexiest sight she had only fantasized about. There she was, disheveled golden mane, glistening lips moist with the brunette’s juices while observing the two damp digits that she had inside of the Gryffindor. And there she was, that talented tongue licking them clean.</p><p>
  <em>I can die happy now.</em>
</p><p>Suddenly, the door burst open and a chuckling Ginny covered Gabrielle’s eyes. “I knew it!” the redhead shouted, “you owe me ten galleons, darlin’.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Welp, that was it. I hope you guys enjoyed it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Since she was young, Hermione believed in magic despite everyone telling her that it didn't exist. Several years had to pass for her to understand that magic was more than a fantasy. Day 3: accidental marriage #FleurmioneWeek2020</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's a bit late but still day 3! Thanks for all the reviews you left guys, that's my motivation to continue creating stories. If you have any one-shot of these that you would like me to turn it into a long story let me know and I will take it into consideration. As you can see, day 3 is about accidental marriage. This time I took a different way to get there. I hope you guys like it. Oh yeah, this one is an AU with no magic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Day 3: Accidental Marriage</p>
<hr/>
<p>When Hermione was a kid, she fell in love with magic. Her parents took her to the circus and nothing caught her attention more than the tricks a magician did. Pulling a dove out of the hat, infinite chains of handkerchiefs, flowers out of a stick, or cutting a woman in half; the little girl couldn't get enough.</p>
<p>She nagged her parents until they bought her a beginner's magic kit. She inspected every object with fascination, tried the tricks, understood the theory, applied the practice, and still, that was not what she wanted, this was not the magic she wanted.</p>
<p><em>There must be something else</em>, young Hermione thought.</p>
<p>The young girl read all the books about magic that landed in her hands, some even with complex vocabulary for her tender age of seven. That didn't matter to her, she wanted to know about every nook and cranny of magic. She read all the books her parents had about it, but they were not enough.</p>
<p>The precocious girl asked her mother for help in getting a library card. It was one of the best gifts ever given to young Hermione. Infinite universes of different possibilities opened to her the moment she started a new book. Her imagination grew so much that she was able to imagine worlds modeled by her, at age eight. Despite her arduous research, she was not able to find the <em>magic </em>she wanted.</p>
<p><em>Magic must be somewhere else, </em>Hermione pondered.</p>
<p>She then realized that the kids of her age didn't approach her. She felt different but she didn't care. There was a nagging feeling within her tiny heart to pursue that dream of finding magic. So, she tried asking her father, a mathematician.</p>
<p><em>Magic is a non-measurable concept, Hermione, </em>the kind man answered with a condescending smile and the young girl hated it. She despised the fact of being looked down just because she was of a young age. After that, she decided to try again with her mom, the physician.</p>
<p><em>Magic? You should stop dreaming about things that don't exist and focus on your studies to become an independent and self-sufficient woman.</em> The distant woman replied with a small roll of her eyes. Hermione didn't know why, but the answer hurt her and made her cry. It was just a taste of a reality that she refused to accept.</p>
<p>Now she knew that her parents were of no help, at all. She then decided to set her research aside and study like there was no tomorrow. One day, she will find the answer on her own.</p>
<p><em>Adults are stupid</em>, she thought.</p>
<p>Years went by in a blur and Hermione was now in high school about to decide what career to pursue. Journals and journals full of stories rested on her desk along with her schoolwork. She might have stopped her innocent research about magic but continued honing her writing skills.</p>
<p>She had won a few writing contests with her short stories along with science fairs and art competitions. Hermione was so talented that it was hard to focus on only one thing; she had so many passions. That's when her parents made the choice for her: science.</p>
<p>After many fights, Hermione relented but kept on writing in secret. If she was going to be a person of science, she would be the best to please them, but after college, she would do whatever she wanted with her life.</p>
<p><em>After all, adults are stupid</em>, she remarked to herself.</p>
<p>Hermione studied hard and graduated from college with honors. She found a great job and made her parents proud. But the nagging feeling from her childhood was still there, lurking under her skin. Waiting for the perfect moment to resurface.</p>
<p>The opportunity aroused in the form of a co-worker called Harry Potter. The young scientist was also an avid reader and noticed certain charm in Hermione's research papers. Perhaps, she had a talent for writing, or so he said to his girlfriend Luna Lovegood that worked for an editorial and was currently looking for new talent.</p>
<p>One day, Hermione received a call and then a letter in her mail asking for a short story as a tryout; two weeks later she got her first payment as a writer. It was a small sum, almost nothing, but it gave her hope. A month later, she was asked to write two more stories and also send a draft for a book if she had any good ideas.</p>
<p>More than a year later, Hermione Granger had quit her job after her second book was published. The first one had been an instant hit. Young Hermione was now in her mid-twenties and had a couple of best-sellers. The journals of her adolescence were filled with so many ideas that she would always have a source for her craft.</p>
<p>It was not until her fifth book in a row that Hermione decided to take a break from everything; her editor understood an agreed on a sabbatical; she had earned it. The first decision she took was to buy a bigger place since her rented place was too small for all the books she had. She bought a modest but modern apartment in a quiet neighborhood.</p>
<p>While putting her things in boxes, Hermione stumbled upon her very first journal and nostalgia invaded her. She opened the tattered notebook and read a few sentences. The more she read, the more her scowl grew.</p>
<p><em>Hou could I have forgotten about this, </em>she wondered aloud.</p>
<p><em>Magic, t</em>he core belief of her childhood. Now, she knew what her new project during sabbatical would be.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After unpacking her belongings and in her new apartment, Hermione started wider research about magic. She went through several books about her childhood's passion, but she hit a wall once more. The writer asked several archeologists and historians and came back empty-handed. She was about to lose all hope when she got a letter in her mail.</p>
<p>
  <em>Magic only materializes to the ones with pure intentions and believing hearts.</em>
</p>
<p>Hermione read the short letter over and over and she ended up with more questions than answers. Who was the one behind the missive? What their intentions were? The young writer tried to find the origin of the letters, but the post office said that it just appeared there with her address and they delivered it; everything surrounding the curious message was a mystery.</p>
<p>A week and a half later, Hermione received a new message in her mail. The envelope had a yellowish tint and this one had a wax seal. The coat of arms was partially scratched so it was difficult to tell to whom it belonged. As expected, the second message was also short, but longer than the first one.</p>
<p>
  <em>Magic is the key to the secrets the soul craves</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>If you wish for magic come to your life, you need to prove your worth.</em>
</p>
<p>The message was still cryptic and even the brilliant writer was having a hard time figuring it out. She wished that she could get a sign that led her in the right direction. Her prayers were heard because a week later, she got a third missive with another clue to what she had called '<em>the most fascinating puzzle ever</em>'. On this one, the wax seal of the coat of arms was still scratched but in a different place.</p>
<p>
  <em>Open your heart and pick a flower.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Offer the flower to the heiress of magic and your questions will have a definite answer.</em>
</p>
<p>A flower. There are so many kinds that Hermione didn't know which one would be proper for an heiress of magic. How she would know which one to pick to avoid offending the holy representative of what regular people reassured her didn't exist. The writer didn't know what to do until an idea came to mind, a book on flowers and their meaning. That would help, she hoped.</p>
<p>Right after the first snowflakes engulfed the city with a white blanket, Hermione received the last letter with a single line written in elegant calligraphy.</p>
<p>
  <em>Magic exists, Hermione Granger, just come and embrace it.</em>
</p>
<p>The writer sighed. The puzzle was hard enough to keep her attention, but was she able to finally crack it? Flipping the letter, Hermione found another clue in the back.</p>
<p>
  <em>Follow the translucent road of wisteria during the next full moon, and magic will finally surround you.</em>
</p>
<p>The only thing that would lead her to that fairytale place was knowing where and when. The writer took a calendar to check when the next full moon was. When she circled the date with a red marker, she remembered about her friend who was a botanist, Neville Longbottom. Hermione had most of the clues figured out, now she just needed help with the location.</p>
<p>After exchanging pleasantries, Neville told her that the place didn't exist, and that killed almost all the hope the young writer had. But he also said that there were legends about a small wisteria forest that appeared every leap year but not even one of the explorers sent to find it came back.</p>
<p>According to the botanist, the location was estimated in the southern part of France, more specifically, in a National Park known as Mercantour, a gorgeous area by the Alps and the oldest protected park in the country. The only clue he could give her, besides the area's name, was that it was said that the wisteria forest emerged from one of the biggest lakes in the park, but all were rumors.</p>
<p>Hermione made her choice; she would travel in a week's time to France as the next full moon would be in nine days. It was not a long trip but she had to explore the National Park in order to find the location mentioned in the short letters she received.</p>
<p>After two almost consecutive world wars, commercial flight became quite popular when new planes were developed to fly civilians from one continent to another. Hermione's books had become very popular and that meant touring the world. Despite knowing that planes were a wonder created by engineering, the child in her would always believe in the magic behind flying, as it was a dream she kept within her heart.</p>
<p>Thanks to her success as a writer, Hermione had traveled to several countries all over the world. She quite enjoyed flying but not inside a <em>bird made of metal</em> but by herself. The writer had dreamed of flying among the clouds several times and always woke up with a tingling sensation coursing through her body. She really wanted to experience the wind playing with her curls while gliding above forests and lakes.</p>
<p><em>Maybe with the help of magic, I can do it</em>, she thought with a smile and started packing.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Three hours in a plane to Paris, then, a connection to get to Lyon and a four-hour bus ride later, a tired Hermione stayed the night in a small hotel in the closest town to Mercantour. From the balcony of her room, the writer could only see tall and dry pine trees and snow, lots of it.</p>
<p><em>I can't wait for tomorrow, </em>Hermione thought before closing her eyes and drift off to sleep.</p>
<p>After snowing all night, the roads were blocked due to the chance of a snowstorm. Despite wanting to start her hike as soon as possible, Hermione had to stay in the hotel one more night when a heavy snowstorm hit the area.</p>
<p><em>Patience is a virtue,</em> Hermione thought while having a hot chocolate and looking out of the frozen window.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the next day's weather was better. The sky was clear and despite the cold, the wind felt as a gentle caress. Armed with a map and a compass, Hermione entered the National Park. If she wanted to be successful, she had to cover as much terrain as possible. There were several lakes in the area so she circled the biggest four.</p>
<p>A small voice in her head made her discard two of them and focus on the biggest of all, <em>lac d'Allos.</em> After choosing, the writer headed to her first destination. After crossing a frozen valley, the writer found a steep incline and sighed. Her physical condition was not bad, but this was a rocky, and possibly slippery, ascent in the snow.</p>
<p>Despite that, she tried and overcame the small obstacle just to run into a bigger one, a steeper path of frozen stones.</p>
<p><em>Just bloody fantastic, </em>a sweaty Hermione thought.</p>
<p>After getting to the top of the steep and rocky path, Hermione saw a small hut. She approached and asked the park ranger for directions. The chuckling man explained that if she had gone around the valley, she would have taken longer but the path was less difficult. He also told her that she was still an hour away from the <em>lac d'Allos</em>.</p>
<p><em>Almost there, </em>she thought while having something to eat and resting for a bit.</p>
<p>An hour later, she found a limestone arch and stopped. There was something about it that caught her attention. One rock at the bottom had a strange symbol carved. It was an ouroboros.</p>
<p><em>Infinity and wholeness</em> was the first thought that came to Hermione's mind and that made her frown. Was this some kind of sign? She ran her fingers tracing the carving deep in thought.</p>
<p><em>Cross it, </em>her inner voice whispered and the writer complied. A soft breeze played with her brown curls and clothes the moment Hermione crossed the limestone arch and felt how her heart started beating faster and air escaped her lungs. Landing on her knees, the young writer balled a fist over her chest.</p>
<p>There was something about this place that she couldn't put into words but linked her to the area. She was able to feel the energy of nature. The small voice inside her told her that she was getting close. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was as if she was breathing for the first time, energy coursed through her, and her fingers tingled, just like when she woke up after dreaming of flying.</p>
<p>Opening her eyes, Hermione stared at her hands. They looked the same but brighter. In fact, everything did. She blinked several times but nothing changed, it was as if her sight enhanced. Unbeknown to the writer, her normally amber orbs now had a trace of golden flecks.</p>
<p>She was getting close; she could feel it. After ascending a hill, she gasped. The lake was more beautiful than she originally imagined. The water of the lake was clear and of different shades of blue, despite the cold, pine trees on the area were green and dusted with snow. A lavender trail guided her on the safest route to descent.</p>
<p>The wind was now cold but pleasant. The sky was clear and a few clouds slowly passed by. Hermione walked a few more minutes and arrived to the shore of the magnificent lake formed by melted ice from the glaciers nearby.</p>
<p>It looked as if mingled with small diamonds. The floating ice particles in the water reflected daylight giving it a magical appearance. The lake was partially frozen but that didn't make it look dull. A myriad of shades of blue and greens was still visible.</p>
<p>Due to the harsh conditions of this season, the National Park was deserted, which was a blessing for the young writer. She promptly set her winter tent and started the heater. She had read that temperatures in the area dropped dramatically during nighttime. After a light dinner, she sat in the dark to observe the moon appear in all its glory.</p>
<p>The moment moonlight hit the lake, the ground started shaking and Hermione stood with a quick jump. From the lake, the ground raised forming a medium-sized island in the middle. Out of nowhere, thick trunks emerged and wisterias in full bloom showed its iridescent flowers.</p>
<p>"There it is" Hermione gaped at the trees with wide eyes "I knew it was true" the writer approached the shore and looked around for a way to get to the island in the middle. "Now, how I get there?" just as though the lake was hearing her, a path of thin ice shone and small frozen stones emerged forming a cobbled path to the island. Wisteria trees with translucent flowers emerged and guarded the frozen path all the way to the island in the middle of the lake.</p>
<p>The moment Hermione's winter boot landed on the first frozen pebble, an invisible force pushed her back and the writer landed on the cold ground.</p>
<p>"Why I can't enter? I followed all the pieces of the puzzle" Hermione tilted her head confused until realization hit her "the flower!" the writer stood and ran back to her tent. Inside her bag was a preserved flower, the one she chose to offer the heiress.</p>
<p>She approached the cobbled path once more and she was finally allowed to pass. She only had to walk a few meters but every step felt like an omen. Here she was in the presence of magic and about to meet people that actually were able to use it. Just a few more steps and she will be among them.</p>
<p>Hermione got to the end of the path and stepped into the island. She was in awe at what she saw. Several people in robes walking around checking stalls with different products on display, children ran around chasing each other. Paper lanterns hung from the taller branches of the wisteria trees that gleamed in different shades. It looked like some sort of celebration.</p>
<p>"Is that a preserved flower?" a smiling blonde girl pulled at Hermione's jacket sleeve. Amber locked with azure and the writer nodded. The child in front of her couldn't be more than ten, twelve at most. White feathers with golden tips covered her hairline, while her platinum hair was up in a ponytail. Her face expression had a touch of mischief "you can't offer preserved flowers, you fool"</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh no.</em>
</p>
<p>"What-"</p>
<p>"Come with me and I'll show you where to find a fresh one" the young blonde extended her hand and Hermione took her in her right and the child dragged her to a small greenhouse away from the loud noises of the festival. "My name's Gabrielle, what's yours?"</p>
<p>"He-Hermione Granger" the writer stammered and the girl giggled amused.</p>
<p>"Well, He-Hermione, here's the flower" Gabrielle pointed at a pot of the same kind the writer had. The brunette let the blonde's girl hand go and approached to cut one flower to offer the heiress of magic.</p>
<p>"That's an…interesting choice to offer her" Gabrielle added with a giggle.</p>
<p>"Is that bad?"</p>
<p>"Not really, I guess" the blonde shrugged before running out of the greenhouse "you will see soon." She yelled before getting lost in the crowd.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After spending more than twenty minutes trying to find the mischievous blonde to thank her for the flower, Hermione heard the sound of trumpets and turned around. All the people started walking towards what it looked like a square. The first thing that caught the writer's attention was a pair of vibrant baby blue eyes staring at her.</p>
<p>Hermione's heart started beating rapidly and she felt difficulty breathing. There was something about the woman staring at her that made her nervous yet excited. She had no time to ponder when a regal woman with purple feathers with golden tips covering her hairline started speaking.</p>
<p>"This is the last full moon festival of the year and four years would have to pass for the heiress of magic to receive a flower of her liking" the regal woman extended her arms to the crowd before her "so, I invite you to try one last time this year to see if you are the lucky one chosen by my granddaughter."</p>
<p>The crowd clapped and cheered before a line of men and women with flowers in their hands was formed and the one at the end was no other than the one with those striking baby blue eyes.</p>
<p>Several <em>non</em>, <em>leave, </em>and<em> absolutely not</em> Hermione heard before it was her turn. Curious eyes observed her and several people started whispering at the foreigner's clothes and looks. She was shorter than most of them, and with darker curly hair, such a rare sight for the gorgeous crowd.</p>
<p>"Name and business," a guard asked before letting her pass. She had observed that it was just part of some sort of tradition as all the ones in front of her were asked the same question. The writer squared her back and raised her face with a determined expression.</p>
<p>"Hermione Granger offering a flower to the heiress of magic" the brunette stated with confidence.</p>
<p>"Let me see your offering" the platinum blonde with baby blue eyes raised from her chair and approached the writer that held her ground despite her shaky hands behind her back.</p>
<p>The gorgeous woman was slightly taller than her and also had white feathers with golden tips covering her hairline. Fine features, delicate jawline, striking blue eyes, full and tempting lips. The woman in front of her was the epitome of perfection.</p>
<p>"It's a blue Ivy" Hermione whispered "I know it's not much, but-"</p>
<p>"I accept it" the blonde replied while taking the flower "I accept her" the blonde stated louder and gasps where heard before cheers and claps.</p>
<p>"My name is Fleur Delacour" the blonde extended her hand "a pleasure, 'ermione"</p>
<p>"Same here Miss Delacour-" She was not able to finish when soft lips brushed against hers and Hermione felt as she was reborn into a new world.</p>
<p>Her head started hurting terribly and Fleur caught her before the writer fell unconscious. The last thing Hermione saw was how the blonde's feathers by her hairline tinted blue, the same shade that was exuding from her fingertips.</p>
<p>The next morning, Hermione woke up surrounded by warmth. Fleur had her arms around her and held her tight from behind. The writer could not help but smile at the sight of a beautiful blonde holding her. She felt safe, she felt happy, she felt complete.</p>
<p>A soft tug coming from the top of her head caught her attention and Hermione gasped surprised when she felt feathers covering her hairline. Just like the ones Fleur had.</p>
<p><em>You are one of them now</em>, a voice whispered within her.</p>
<p>Fleur later explained to her that all humans had a dormant magical creature inside them, some awaken at the desire of magic, others stay dormant for decades, even centuries. She also said that Hermione was one of the lucky ones believing in magic from a tender age so the transition from regular human to the magical creature was not traumatic as her creature was always there lurking under her skin. Her heart always believing in magic was right all this time. It felt like a dream.</p>
<p>"So, I am one of yours now," Hermione repeated.</p>
<p>"Oui" Fleur affirmed with a smile.</p>
<p>"That means that I can use magic" the writer added</p>
<p>"Exactly, mon amour" the blonde replied "and we're married now, too"</p>
<p>"And we're-wait"</p>
<p>"What do you think the <em>flower ceremony</em> was about? It was for me to find and accept my magical spouse" Fleur waved her hand dismissively before pointing at her feather-covered forehead "that's why my feathers tinted with the color of your magic, see?"</p>
<p>"What?" a shocked Hermione screeched.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, mon amour" Fleur purred while cupping the writer's face and giving her a peck on the lips "we have all our lives to get to know each other and have beautiful babies."</p>
<p>"Babies?!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I got inspired by the phrase 'a believing heart is your magic' from LWA anime. Btw, I absolutely love young Gabrielle and her crazy antics. Still a sucker for happy/funny endings here. See you guys tomorrow for day 4.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Adagio No.2: Heart in A Major</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Talented pianist Fleur Delacour was destined for fame and glory until an unfortunate event changed her future. Hermione Granger never had it easy in life until she learned how to play the violin and started to shine. Two different backgrounds, two broken hearts joined by the same passion, music.</p><p>No magic AU. Music AU. Day 4: Boss/assistant. #FleurmioneWeek2020.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N: It's still day 4 somewhere in the world and I just finished this piece, I revised it but if you find any mistakes please forgive me. All the musical pieces are real and would improve the feels while you read, just a suggestion. Day 4 was about boss/assistant, I tweaked it a bit so bear with me. Bold for French.</p><p>I dedicate this chap to lostparkmih for helping me with research, medical terms, and even the chapter's title. Thank you so much.</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p> </p><p><strong>Day 4:</strong> Boss/assistant</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Fleur Delacour was destined for stardom. That was what her mother said all the time since the little girl decided on playing the piano. The young blonde was indeed gifted. She was able to reproduce short pieces of music after hearing them a couple of times; her tutor said that the girl had absolute pitch. She just needed more training and she would become a great pianist.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Her schedule became a succession of theory and piano practice sessions along with elementary school work and almost no time to play with her classmates. She grew among adults that demanded more and more of her. Fleur was only five when the lessons started.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Elementary, middle, and high school passed like a blur for her. She was a great student with a good memory, but in front of the piano, was magnificent. That's why it was not a surprise when she was accepted into Juilliard to study music and composition. Of course, she was admitted with a full scholarship after she decided on focusing on her education instead of showbusiness.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>During her freshman year, she realized that envy could be terrible when classmates started hiding or tear her music sheets apart.</em>
</p><p>'<em>I didn't think that I had to study with spoiled brats' she spoke her mind in class once and the hatred increased. They started calling her names and laughing behind her back for being a 'stuck up French bitch'. She paid no mind, her only focus was in becoming the greatest piano player the world had ever seen.</em></p><p>
  <em>She had no friends but the piano. The white and black keys didn't judge her for her thick English accent nor her looks and talent. What the piano wanted was to be played at the best tempo, with the right pressure on the keys, strong fortes, clever crescendos, dramatic decrescendos, perfectly measured staccatos, DC al fine, from the beginning to the end. That's what Fleur cared about, not envious children and their lousy performances with no depth, no heart.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In the course of her years in Juilliard, she didn't only get hate but also praise from her teachers. She was one of the best in her year and the one nobody wanted to perform after because her talent would overshadow even the best of them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bellatrix Lestrange was one of those rivals that despised Fleur. The English dark-haired woman was studying two instruments at the same time, piano and violin. After hearing Fleur perform during free practice, Bellatrix knew that the French blonde would always be one step ahead of her in piano and that infuriated her to no end.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The English student then focused her efforts in the violin more than the piano. She was good at both but Fleur was beyond great. Bellatrix's dislike of the French student augmented significantly in their senior year when they had a free practice and the teacher ordered to switch to an instrument, they weren't focusing on just to get in other player's shoes. If they were able to play a small piece correctly; they would be able to leave class early.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bellatrix saw a golden opportunity to humiliate Fleur and offered her violin so she could try it out while she would play the cello. She had never seen the blonde touching any other instrument than the piano so it was a safe bet.</em>
</p><p>"<em>You won't have a problem playing a difficult instrument like the violin" Bellatrix teased while sitting behind the bulky instrument she chose "you are a genius, after all"</em></p><p>"<em>I guess we will see now" Fleur placed her instrument on her right shoulder.</em></p><p>"<em>You don't even know how to hold it" and the dark-haired student laughed along with others in the class "such a genius you are"</em></p><p>"<em>Here, this is for left-handed musicians" a blue-haired girl handed the blonde a slightly different one, her name, Nymphadora Tonks. She was one of the few students that were friendly to the French blonde.</em></p><p>"<em>Merci, Tonks" Fleur replied with a smile before giving Bellatrix's violin back to her owner. The moment the blonde placed her chin on the chinrest, the bow on top of the strings, and closed her eyes, Bellatrix knew she had made a mistake.</em></p><p>
  <em>When she heard the strong and complicated notes of Paganini's caprice n.16 coming from the violin played by the blonde, the English student realized that it was a terrible choice of instrument to laugh at the blonde.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That piece was one of the most difficult ever written for the stringed instrument which took Bellatrix months to be able to play it without any mistakes. And here the blonde was playing it with a mastery level of a professional.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>One minute and a half later, Fleur finished and wide-eyed students clapped in shock. The blonde had never shown any interest in the violin and somehow, she was so good at it.</em>
</p><p>"<em>I did what I could as the G and D were one fifth out of tune" Fleur commented while giving the violin back to the teacher "I wish I 'ad brought 'La Pucelle' with me but I don't play ze violin zat much"</em></p><p>"<em>You have Stradivari's 'La Pucelle'?" the professor asked in shock. That was one of the most expensive and exquisite violins ever made.</em></p><p>"<em>Oui, alzoug' my sister is ze one that plays it more because she doesn't like ze piano" Fleur shrugged before flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder "can I go now?"</em></p><p>"<em>Yes, you are dismissed" the professor replied with a smile. Bellatrix saw red.</em></p><p>
  <em>Months later, after finishing their studies, only two last concerts separated them from graduation. The first one, the final examination with their instrument of mastery where they had to play a set piece and one of their choice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The set one was Chopin's Fantaisie-impromptu Op. 66 a fast-paced piece that demanded a high focus and unparalleled amounts of technical ability. It's slow and tender at times to progress in speed and fluidity, the player had to be very aware of the sudden pace changes and both hands tempo to avoid a disaster.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fleur chose Liszt's La Campanella as her free piece. The infamous piece that most players avoid due to the difficulty of it. It was extremely demanding when it came to technique and included enormous jumps for the right hand at an uncomfortable tempo. It was a gorgeous but lethal piece for even advanced players. Luckily for the blonde, she had worked hard to master it and it paid off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bellatrix also played a difficult piece and passed with flying colors. Due to that, both of them were chosen to play the last piece together after graduation. Sonata No. 9 in A major Op. 47 'Kreutzer' of Beethoven. A very difficult piece with an emotional scope; it was a great choice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The graduation ceremony went on with Fleur as Valedictorian and gave a surprisingly emotional speech that brought to tears almost al the students but Bellatrix, of course. After all the graduates received their diplomas, the music department started the concert, Bellatrix and Fleur would play the last piece.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Sonata No. 9 of Beethoven started with the soft notes of the violin to be perfectly complemented by the soft and tender tune of the piano. The two virtuosos played with great mastery until Bellatrix raised the stakes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She started rushing the piece to make Fleur lose concentration; it didn't work. Fleur caught up without missing a single note. That infuriated Bellatrix that made the dramatic pauses longer which made Fleur shine as she took the liberty of extending the solo parts. That made Bellatrix mad.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They battled through all the forty-six-minute piece with Bellatrix attacking with her fast pace an unfaced Fleur that easily caught up with her. It was not until the end when one of the strings of her violin broke that Bellatrix lost it. Due to the speed she used to press Fleur to miss, she applied unnecessary force on her strings and one couldn't take it. In her anger, she dropped her violin and turned to attack Fleur. In a swift move that the blonde didn't register, Bellatrix slammed the piano's fallboard shut and not only one, but several cracks were heard when Fleur's fingers were trapped under it.</em>
</p><p>Azure orbs opened in panic. Her forehead was covered by a thin layer of sweat. She had had that nightmare <em>again.</em> Unfortunately, it was a memory of her graduation day at Juilliard. Due to Bellatrix's attack, Fleur Delacour piano virtuoso ended with four broken fingers on her right hand while two on her left.</p><p>The pianist was rushed to the hospital while Bellatrix was arrested and taken to the nearby police station. After confirming the broken fingers and checking her medical history, the doctors discovered that the blonde had carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands due to the exhausting and repetitive strain playing the piano required. The French student had been postponing the surgery for so long that her mothers Apolline and Camille Delacour signed the forms, and Fleur was taken to surgery.</p><p>The surgeons discovered severe ligament and tendon damage in her right hand without a rupture. The damage extended to her elbow and shoulder. It was a miracle that she still played at the level she performed with such damage. That, added to the four broken fingers would only mean that her time as a piano player was over until she healed completely.</p><p>When they opened her left wrist, the surgeons were relieved when they saw that the damage was not as extended as her right arm and wrist which meant that there was hope; the young pianist would be able to play again but probably not at the same level of mastery she used to.</p><p>Fleur sat on the bed and lowered her gaze to her hands. They used to be so talented while grazing the white and black piano keys, now they weren't as good as before despite months in physical therapy. The blonde was able to play the piano but her level was never the same; that broke her heart.</p><p>Seeing that making is as a pianist now was more wishful thinking than reality, Fleur decided to go back to school and study something that would keep her closer to music despite not being able to play as before, orchestral conducting.</p><p>Thanks to her absolute pitch, identifying the notes and the player's needs were easy for her. She graduated with flying colors and moved back to France when the philharmonic of Paris gave her a chance to show her talent. She accepted the job and went back to her country to be close with her family, but the constant coddling from her grandmothers and mothers was suffocating. Despite that, those were the best three years of her life.</p><p>Now, five years later after the unfortunate accident, a big opportunity came through when London's philharmonic conductor retired and she was offered the position.</p><p>Looking at her hands, Fleur sighed. She hated the damn scars the surgeries left her with. Her left scar was the smallest. It went from the middle of the lower part of her palm down to the beginning of the wrist while the right one went from the middle of the palm all the way down the wrist. It was the longest and more painful. She absolutely hated them since they were a perpetual memento of her failure to become a famous pianist.</p><p>After taking a shower and getting dressed, Fleur sat by a mirror to apply soft touches of makeup. She had to flex her hands a few times when her right started tingling. After applying a thin layer of light pink lipstick, she put on her fingerless compression gloves. Even after all these years, Fleur never stopped wearing them as they helped her when her wrists became too stiff due to the strain, she put on them while conducting.</p><p>The soft tune of a violin invaded her apartment and Fleur glared at her room's closed door. She stood and opened with such strength that the door almost came out of it hinges.</p><p>"<strong>Why are you playing that?</strong>" Fleur shouted at Gabrielle that calmly finished her piece before placing the violin back in its case "<strong>I hate violins.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Well, it </strong><em><strong>is</strong></em><strong> my violin, after all,</strong>" Gabrielle replied patiently "<strong>let me remind you that </strong><em><strong>you are</strong></em><strong> a conductor, you can't hate any instrument.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Fine, but this </strong><em><strong>is </strong></em><strong>my apartment</strong>" Fleur crossed her arms with a huff.</p><p>"<em><strong>Was,</strong></em><strong> or you forgot that you are leaving today</strong>" Gabrielle added with a smile. After her sister's incident, she had been by her side and assisted her during the first months of physical therapy. She even skipped a semester just to be by her sister's side. Family first, she said every time that Fleur questioned about the <em>time lost</em> helping her get back on her feet.</p><p>"<strong>I didn</strong>'<strong>t</strong>" Fleur scoffed but checked her watch anyway.</p><p>"<strong>Save me a spot in the philharmonic,</strong>" Gabrielle said with a cheeky smile. Her mother Camille told her that including her as part of the orchestra was one of the conditions for Fleur to accept the position in London.</p><p>"<strong>Just don't be late</strong>" Fleur replied while taking her carry-on bag. Their chauffeur would take her to her family's private jet to fly to London. The Delacours were one of the wealthiest families in France, but Fleur was not one to show off, but she lost her latest argument against her mothers so private plane it was.</p><p>"<strong>See you in a few days</strong>" Gabrielle hugged her sister that wrapped her arms around her shorter sister "<strong>don't scare the orchestra to dead this time, please</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>I only demand perfection, nothing more</strong>" Fleur scoffed and Gabrielle shook her head before both burst into a fit of laughter "<strong>see you in London soon</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Just leave already</strong>" Gabrielle waved her hand dismissively "<strong>don't worry about Pucci, she's in good hands</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>The name's </strong><em><strong>La Pucelle</strong></em><strong> and it needs new strings</strong>" Fleur stated before turning around.</p><p>"<strong>She, Fleur, it's a she</strong>" Gabrielle commented and chuckled when her sister stuck her tongue at her before closing the door.</p><hr/><p>Hermione never had it easy in life. Her mother died during her birth and her father blamed her for her mother's death. She was beaten by her dad almost every night, twice if he was drunk which was a frequent occurrence.</p><p>Despite that, the young girl studied hard as a way to escape the nightmare she was living at home. She was one of the best in her class, and that opened doors for her. She had inherited her mother's violin and music sheets. Her mother even left her a small handwritten notebook with step by step instructions in case she ever wanted to learn how to play the difficult instrument.</p><p>It took Hermione years to learn but she was quite talented at it. She started playing every afternoon after school just before her father came home. She tried to hide and not make any sound when he was around to avoid another beating, especially if he saw her with her mother's violin.</p><p>The brunette grew up being shy but stubborn, quite the combination. She enrolled in her first competition when she was in middle school and won against teens that had at least five years of experience over her. She even got second place at a national competition during high school. She was admitted to the Royal College of Music with a complete scholarship and she moved to the campus and away from her father.</p><p>She normally wore long sleeves and pants even during summer, so people didn't see the scars her father left on her arms and legs. His father used to beat her with a belt and normally took it too far. Her back was marred with long scarred lines, the same as her arms and legs. It was something that embarrassed her to no end. Despite that, she shone in college and graduated with honors. She passed London's philharmonic auditions on the first try; the conductor liked her determination.</p><p>Hermione took really hard the retirement of the conductor as he was a kind man that helped her become a better violinist, but the man was old and deserved his rest. Even after his departure, they sometimes got together for tea. He really considered her as the daughter he never had and Hermione like the father she had always wanted.</p><p>Despite living out of something she loved, her salary was barely enough to pay rent of a small flat in a decent area, food, and transportation. She also had a part-time job as a waiter near her place in an Italian family restaurant, and some nights a week she even played the violin and made some extra cash in tips.</p><p>Other times, she just went to a park and played to her heart's content. There was a nice one near her place that she frequented on weekends. It only had a small playground and some green patches of grass surrounding a small pond where ducks swam lazily around.</p><p>Since she was still on vacation from the Philharmonic, and her shift in the restaurant wouldn't start until five in the afternoon, Hermione had a light lunch and headed to the park with her violin. If she was lucky, she could make a few extra pounds in tips over there.</p><hr/><p>One of the perks of being a Delacour was that some things were taken care of for her. For example, her accommodation. Her mothers owned a large apartment in London that the blonde refused to use. She just talked to a family friend that had several properties in the city for sale and bought one with her own money on a modest area. That was a shock for her overprotective mothers.</p><p>Mama Camille was the one to help her decorate as a commitment of sorts while Maman Apolline took care of the move. So, when Fleur entered her flat in London everything was properly organized and ready, even the fridge was stocked and a chef was there waiting for her orders. Her mothers really spoiled their two daughters too much.</p><p>She quickly dismissed the chef and made a salad for herself. She was not that hungry as the flight was a bit bumpy. After eating, the French conductor decided on having a glass of wine in the tub. There was nothing more relaxing for her than a bath.</p><p>After filling the tub with warm water and throwing a geode bath bomb, Fleur took off her compression gloves and flexed her hands several times before undressing. Soon, the essences of bergamot and lavender surrounded the blonde the moment she entered the tub. She pressed play on her music player and the soft notes of Liszt's Liebestraum No.3 were heard while she soaked in the bath.</p><p>Her fingers twitched while she hummed the melody. It was a slow-paced song but full of sentiment. One of her favorite pieces of choice to warm-up. Despite not being able to play the piano like before, she still indulged herself with the soft tunes of the piano. Her mothers insisted that she had one in London so of course, they got her a ridiculously expensive crystal piano and they had the fallboard removed, just in case.</p><p>
  <em>As fragile as my hands.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The irony.</em>
</p><p>Fleur sighed and looked up to avoid the tears in her eyes falling. It was still painful for her just to be able to play a piece and take a break for hours to recover. And she was not able to play at the same speed nor clarity as before. It was heartbreaking. At least, she could still work in the music world, not as she wanted, but it was better than nothing.</p><p>She placed the empty glass by the tub before she dove her hands in the water. When Debussy's Arabesque No.1 started, she replicated the movement underwater with her eyes closed. They still hurt, especially her right one, but the water helped so it wouldn't cause her a lot of pain.</p><p>After the <em>Arabesque</em> ended, Fleur opened her eyes and lowered her gaze to observe her shaking hands. She would have to wait a few minutes to regain some strength to be able to leave the tub. Despite doing physical therapy, and being an optimist, the blonde conductor now had some limitations that she refused to accept.</p><p>With a deep breath, Fleur got out of the tub and wrapped her body in a thick bathrobe. She chose something simple and thin to wear as it was the end of the summer and days were not that hot nor chilly yet.</p><p>She put on her skin-colored compression gloves, grabbed her keys and bag, and left the apartment to take a small walk to clear her head. It looked like a good day for a stroll.</p><hr/><p>Hermione took off her shoes and placed them by her left. She really liked the feeling of grass under her feet; it gave her freedom. She rested her chin on the chinrest and closed her eyes. She felt it easy to concentrate that way. Soon, the soft and long tunes of Bach's violin Partita No. 2 in D minor invaded the park. The melody made the violinist smile, this softness was what she imagined a mother's hug would feel.</p><p>She was not the only one that got trapped in the feelings that her music provoked. Fleur Delacour arrived at the same park a few minutes ago and was pleasantly surprised to hear the melodious and beautifully performed piece that attracted her like a moth to a flame.</p><p>The French conductor was pleased with the clear yet emotional the mysterious player imbedded to her play. Normally, people would play the piece at a faster tempo or messed the length but this violinist was so good that she needed to see who it was. Fleur left a bill in the violinist's case on the grass and walked to sit under a nearby tree.</p><p>With each fast note, the brunette violinist shook her head at the rhythm of the music and that small scowl full of concentration made the blonde smile. She hadn't heard a more passionate performance in years. Her left index finger raised and swayed at the rhythm of the music that was almost ending.</p><p>Hermione was not able to finish when the first notes of <em>Liszt's La Campanella</em> came from her jeans back pocket. At this, the violinist placed her violin in its case and answered the phone ignoring the large bill and a few coins left by people that heard her play.</p><p>Fleur raised an eyebrow at the ringtone of the brunette. That was the piece she played as her free piece in Juilliard. She suddenly remembered a phrase mama Camille used to tell her as a child after she read it in a book about love. Her mama was a hopeless romantic.</p><p>
  <em>Coincidences mean you're on the right path.</em>
</p><p>Fleur scoffed at the thought and turned to look at the brunette once more but the girl was long gone; that made the blonde's mood turn sour.</p><hr/><p>Five days later, all the members of London's Philharmonic were summoned for a special announcement. They would meet their new conductor and start the season's rehearsals.</p><p>"I hope she's hot," Ron, a young cello player said by Hermione's side.</p><p>"How do you know it's a she?" Harry asked with a tilted head while cleaning his oboe.</p><p>"Don't you see the new blonde violinist over there? Rumor has it that the conductor is her sister" Ron gossiped and Hermione rolled her eyes.</p><p>"As long as she's fair I don't care if she wears a clown's nose and hat" Hermione replied while tuning her old violin.</p><p>"How about a pair of gloves?" Ginny, Ron's sister asked while opening her flute case.</p><p>"You're kidding" Hermione stated with a chuckle "French and with gloves, that would be quite the fashion statement."</p><p>"Thanks, the Lord and the Queen and all that is sacred" Ron raised his hands in the air "she's not hot but super-hot"</p><p>"I don't think-" Hermione started but had to bite her tongue when a silvery mane of hair passed by her. Tall and regal, Fleur Delacour glided to the middle of the orchestra as if her feet didn't touch the ground. Bright blue eyes shone while observing the musician's faces "I take the clown's nose and hat comment back, she's gorgeous"</p><p>"Control your gay, Granger" Ginny teased and Hermione blushed "she's your boss."</p><p>The blonde conductor raised her baton and gently tapped the music stand in front of her before clearing her throat. All whispering stopped and all eyes turned to look at the beautiful new conductor.</p><p>"I will keep this short as I prefer practice over unnecessary speeches" the blonde conductor stated in perfect English, her French thick accent long gone "My name is Fleur Delacour, I conducted the Philharmonic of Paris for three years and now I am here"</p><p>"Forget about all the positions you had with the former conductor" Fleur raised her baton as to emphasize her point "you are all starting from scratch" several whispers were heard while azure landed on a familiar brunette and she fought hard to keep her stoic demeanor "veterans keep an eye on emerging talents and new ones aim higher"</p><p>"Bloody hell" Ron whispered and Ginny elbowed him.</p><p>"Auditions will start tomorrow morning at eight, be on time or be gone" Fleur stated in a serious tone and most nodded "now, let's start practice with something quite simple, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 fourth movement Allegro con Fuoco" Fleur raised her baton and her right hand at the same time for the strings to start.</p><p>"Good, keep up" Fleur shouted, "trumpets I can't hear you!"</p><p>"Don't be lazy, look at the dynamics" Fleur shouted once more and Gabrielle smiled.</p><p>
  <em>She will kill them if they don't pay attention to her.</em>
</p><p>"Where are my cellos and basses?" Fleur turned and scowled at them "you are being drowned by the trumpets come on" the sound was still muffled by the trumpets and that enraged the conductor "I think I made myself clear, I want to hear the violins too, you are being weak and weak strings are not allowed in my orchestra" Hermione opened her eyes to lock with azure staring back at her before pointing the baton in her general direction.</p><p>"Violins, violas and cellos only, again" the string musicians started and Fleur shook her head in disappointment.</p><p>"Too slow, again" Fleur ordered and they started from the beginning once more. "Louder, don't rush it, again!" some musicians sighed softly before starting again.</p><p>"Watch me and keep up or leave, again!" Fleur ordered and Hermione took a deep breath.</p><p><em>This will show her.</em> Hermione started on a higher note, kept at it, and made Fleur look at her with a satisfied smile.</p><p>"Come on, use all your bow, take risks" she shouted and all the strings tried harder but it was Hermione that shone leading them with the intensity of her sound.</p><p>At this, Fleur hummed. "See? Doesn't it sound better?" the blonde pointed her baton directly at Hermione who nodded with a small smile. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the French conductor turned to look at the rest "now tutti, from the beginning, let's go!"</p><hr/><p>"Bloody hell, everything hurts" Ron moaned and Ginny rolled her eyes.</p><p>"That was a tough practice indeed" Harry added while grabbing his oboe's case.</p><p>"I liked it" Hermione shrugged.</p><p>"Of course, you did, the conductor stared at you as hypnotized" Ginny teased.</p><p>"She did not come on" brunette snorted.</p><p>"Are you guys up for some drinks, we deserve some after this brutal rehearsal" Ron asked and every head shook.</p><p>"Pass, we have auditions tomorrow," Harry said with a smile.</p><p>"Not happening, bro" Ginny patted him on the back.</p><p>"I prefer sleep over beers, sorry Ron" Hermione commented with a shrug before turning around to leave. Luckily, she didn't live far "see you all tomorrow for the auditions from hell."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you want me to make it a multi-chap fic out of this one let me know. See you later on day 5.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Heartshot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the last years of WW2 snipers Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour are on the winning side for a change. One day, three soldiers with Nazi uniforms appear in front of their rifles. They look like the enemy they despise, but are they really part of the enemy forces?<br/>Day 5: Periodical AU/restricted magic. Warning for death and violence. #FleurmioneWeek2020</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Welcome back to another entry of this intense Fleurmione week. I am so glad you guys liked day 4 so much to the point that you want it to be a long story. I am actually thinking about it. If you want any other of these one-shots to become a multi-chapter story let me know in a review. In other news, this is a fic based on WW2. Magic exists but with some restrictions [unless you are a magical creature]. This is the fic I am pretty excited about since I did an insane amount of research and it's so different from everything out there. Also credits to Shmehua1 for her concept on soulmates that she used on her amazing fic 'Atlas' on the LWA fandom, if you like LWA you need to read that masterpiece.</p><p>On a sad note, I just got the news that one of my dear aunts for stage 4 cancer so I am a bit down today, I will continue writing the next 2 days despite that. I need a distraction.</p><p>Warning: Violence, death, and suffering ahead. Our girls won't die, so no worries.</p><p>This chapter is dedicated to that great woman my aunt Ana is. You might never read this chapter, but it's for you, I Love you, Tia Anita.</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><hr/><p><strong>Day 5:</strong> Periodical AU</p><hr/><p>England, beginning of winter 1943. Undisclosed location.</p><hr/><p>"Attention!" a military police officer called and a witch and a wizard in khaki and light blue uniforms stood firm.</p><p>"At ease" Captain Potter ordered before seating "as you know, some of our men got caught by the Gestapo and taken to Bergen-Belsen more than a month ago."</p><p>"If only Corporate Weasley had kept his head shaved or dyed his hair blonde like the other two <em>that </em>wouldn't have happened" Draco commented with annoyance.</p><p>"We are not here to discuss the mistakes that were made, <em>Sergeant</em> <em>Malfoy</em>" Captain Potter stated with a glare while Hermione rolled her eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that Draco Malfoy senior was a Brigadier, his son would have never been assigned to this briefing and even less the <em>mission</em>.</p><p>"I agree," Lieutenant Granger remarked with a glare.</p><p>"As I was saying, Corporal Weasley along with Lance-Corporal Crabbe and Private Goyle were caught while undercover as SS agents, and taken to Bergen-Belsen" Captain Harry Potter explained while cleaning his glasses "we got word from our informants that they will be taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau in a few days' time after our refusal to free some of the German soldiers we have in our custody, so we need to rescue them before that happens."</p><p>"That's when we will become the heroes, right?" Draco raised his hand to high five a serious Hermione that just scowled at him.</p><p>"Well, you could say so" Captain Harry shrugged.</p><p>"How we are certain that they won't be transferred before or after that time?" Hermione asked deep in thought.</p><p>"We intercepted a message from the headquarters of Gestapo in Berlin to the SS officials in Bergen-Belsen, so we are quite sure of the accuracy of it" Captain Potter added with a smirk. Hermione had always been too obnoxious when it came to information and planning of her missions, and that's one of the main reasons she was considered one of the best spies England had. Her success rate was the highest in the entire force. She was a careful planner and it showed in her results.</p><p>"Your mission will be to enter Germany through the Netherlands" Captain Harry turned to look at the blond soldier "you will be flying Lieutenant Granger to the border between the Netherlands and Germany so she can infiltrate the country easier."</p><p>"Count on it" Draco saluted his superior with a cocky grin while Harry and Hermione tried hard not to roll their eyes "I <em>am </em>the best pilot of England, after all." This time Hermione couldn't hold it and rolled her eyes in annoyance.</p><p>
  <em>Right.</em>
</p><p>"You will be taking a modified two-seat <em>Spitfire</em> prototype" Draco's eyes gleamed in excitement at the thought of flying a new plane while Hermione grimaced. She hated flying. At this, Harry gave her friend a sympathetic smile "I am sorry but it's the fastest way to get there."</p><p>"I know" the brown-haired lieutenant sighed before taking a thick folder Harry handed her before handing Draco a thinner one.</p><p>"Sergeant Draco you can find all the information you need about the new expected speed of the prototype along with extra specifications" Harry commented, "as you can see is slightly slower than the one-seat you normally fly."</p><p>"Same engine, more weight and slower, huh" Draco voiced while checking the folder before closing it abruptly and dropping it on the desk "that's all I need to know"</p><p>"Very well, see you at 1900 hours Sergeant, you are dismissed" Harry added, and Draco stood, saluted, and left the two friends alone.</p><p>"Why him, Harry? He is a pain" Hermione rubbed her right temple as it was pounding which meant a headache was forming.</p><p>"The brass wanted him on the mission, there's nothing I can do about it" Harry shrugged.</p><p>"By <em>brass, </em>you meant Brigadier Malfoy senior" Hermione retorted with a frown.</p><p>"Yeah" Harry admitted, "on the bright side, he <em>is</em> a decent pilot."</p><p>"Not the <em>best</em>, though" Hermione commented with her best imitation of Draco's voice.</p><p>"Of course, not" a chuckling Harry replied before pointing at the folder in Hermione's hands "that's the information about our men in the Netherlands so you blend in easier. The SOE will provide you with common Dutch clothes, papers, and currency so you can move around without suspicion."</p><p>"Brilliant" Hermione scanned the documents in front of her and memorized the names and features of the men that would be helping her. "Are you going to see me off?" the lieutenant asked in a teasing tone.</p><p>"Of course," Harry chuckled again "I am your lucky charm, after all." Something that started as a joke became a superstition for Hermione after being successful in all the missions that the captain saw her off.</p><p>"See you tonight, then captain" Hermione saluted her superior respectfully before leaving the room.</p><p>"So many years working together and she's still so serious" Harry smiled at the retreating form of his friend that suddenly turned around and stuck her tongue at him.</p><hr/><p>Half an hour of the set time, Hermione entered the hangar that was bursting with activity. Engineers checked the plane and made sure everything was perfect while SOE agents updated Hermione on Dutch customs and dressing style. It was a great advantage that the Lieutenant could speak several languages including Dutch. That made it easier to pass for a local which was ideal to escape in case of need.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, Sergeant Malfoy met with the engineers that gave him the last recommendations about the plane prototype that he attentively heard. A great difference from his usual arrogant self.</p><p>A few minutes before the 1900 hours, Captain Harry Potter approached the hangar while the engineers dragged the modified plane outside. Hermione sighed relieved when she saw him.</p><p>"About bloody time, Harry" the lieutenant hissed in an annoyed tone. Harry knew better and noticed the anxiety of his friend.</p><p>"Sorry, I had to take a detour to grab this" Harry gave Hermione her wand. Magical army members only get to hold them during missions. The lieutenant still thought that it was a silly rule, but she obeyed it, nonetheless.</p><p>"Thank you, I know it will come handy" Hermione replied while pocketing her wand. The officers capable of using magic were a very small number which fed the legend that they were the strongest.</p><p>"See you back in a couple of weeks" Harry hugged his friend before whispering "everything is going to be fine." Despite the popular belief of having nerves of steel, Lieutenant Hermione Granger was always anxious before a mission and her friend knew that a hug worked wonders.</p><p>"See you soon, Captain" Hermione saluted with a smile before turning to walk towards the plane. Minutes later, RAF Sergeant Draco Malfoy and Army Lieutenant took off the runway of a southern secret base towards the unknown in the Netherlands.</p><hr/><p>Magical creature's intervention really tilted luck in favor of France. Normally, veela don't intervene on violent affairs unless they get attacked first. So, when the Nazis invaded France, and the heads of the Delacour, Beaumont, and Dubois clan were slaughtered during a council meeting, the surviving heiresses, Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour enlisted as magical snipers.</p><p>After years in La Résistance, the now Capitaine Fleur Delacour and her sister Sous-Lieutenant Gabrielle Delacour were the deadliest duos of magical snipers of all France with a total count of two hundred and fifty recorded kills; Fleur's personal count was above a hundred and eighty-five. German soldiers avoided them like the plague which helped France liberate a part of their occupied territory.</p><p>Now located in Metz, close to the Belgian and German border, Fleur and Gabrielle were the ones helping clear the path for the reinforcements that were supposed to arrive soon. But several bombings in the area cut the supply chain and the Delacour siblings got stranded in a fortified location killing German soldiers on sight while keeping the town safe despite the low temperatures of the beginning of winter.</p><hr/><p>"No worries Granger, you are in the best hands," Draco said through the communicator "we will be landing in no time."</p><p>"It's Lieutenant Granger for you, Sergeant" Hermione hissed through the throat mic. She had to recognize that the flight had been quite peaceful. The sight of the moon's reflection on the North Sea was a gorgeous view. It was a cloudless and starry night which was not necessarily a good omen as clouds helped hide planes in case of an unexpected attack.</p><p>"Such a peaceful night" Hermione whispered.</p><p>"Bloody hell Granger, you just jinxed it" Draco shouted angrily.</p><p>"I beg your pardon?" the annoyed lieutenant yelled back.</p><p>"You never say something like that on a mission" the blond pilot shook his head "it's bad luck."</p><p>"Draco Malfoy, it's incredible that you believe in something that ridiculous as-" her scolding was interrupted when 20mm bullets grazed the Spitfire's right wind.</p><p>"Dammit Granger, I told you" Draco did a canopy roll to the right "you jinxed it!"</p><p>"Enemy on your rear at six o'clock" Hermione shouted back.</p><p>"That's not how you say it, bloody idiot" Draco spat annoyed while trying to avoid being hit. He steered right and now they were upside down. Hermione felt like vomiting when he pulled the steering stick back and made a half loop. After leveling the aircraft, Draco was able to get behind the German Messerschmitt bf109 that was hot on his tail just a moment ago.</p><p>"I am a spy, not a damn pilot!" Hermione shouted while trying hard to hold back nausea due to all the evasive maneuvers Draco was performing.</p><p>
  <em>I hate flying so much!</em>
</p><p>"For once in your life Granger, just shut up!" the blonde screamed before firing the eight 0.3-inch machine guns trying to hit the German plane. The bullets looked like shooting stars flying towards the enemy aircraft, lethal but a gorgeous sight, nonetheless. And Draco pumped his fist up in celebration when the German plane turned into a ball of fire.</p><p>"I hate flying, I definitely hate flying" Hermione whispered to herself like a mantra to calm down; it was an utter failure.</p><p>"There must be another one around, they fly in pairs after all" Draco looked everywhere trying to find the second enemy plane. It was not until he saw fast lights approaching him that he knew that the enemy was in front of him and already shooting.</p><p>He quickly took the stick and did a full revolution about its longitudinal axis and then, he yanked the stick up and pulled until the spitfire was upside down. Then, he rolled right and started chasing the second German plane that rolled left and right to avoid being hit.</p><p>"Stop moving you damn dog" Draco shouted while trying to shoot the plane down. He didn't count with the Luftwaffe's pilot skill that did a loop-the-loop and was now shooting at Draco and Hermione's plane from the rear.</p><p>"Bloody hell" the blond English pilot shouted while trying to roll right to avoid the incoming bullets. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough, and the right wing of the plane was hit. Draco tried to stabilize the plane, but it was hard when almost half wing was missing "Granger, put on your parachute"</p><p>"What-"</p><p>"Do it while I try to slow the plane a bit" Draco held to the Spitfire's stick as hard as he could hold the plane stable despite the rain of bullets coming from the rear. He pulled a red lever and the engine slowed down.</p><p>"When I jettison your canopy, I will roll right so you bail out as fast as you can" Draco shouted through his throat mic.</p><p>"And you?" Hermione asked while donning her parachute. She could hear the German plane approaching at an alarming speed.</p><p>"I will see you down there" Then, he pushed a small blue button and Hermione's canopy blew open before doing a half-barrel roll to the right "go Granger go!"</p><p>"Thanks, Malfoy, you are not half bad" Draco turned and gave her his trademark cocky smirk. That was the last thing Lieutenant Granger saw of him. Not a minute later, the prototype two-seated Spitfire exploded. Its pieces scattered like flaming meteors that scattered through the firmament as a testament of another lost life due to this terrible war; just seconds after Hermione opened her parachute.</p><p>
  <em>Dammit, Draco.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Hermione landed in the middle of a forest and her parachute got stuck on a branch. Now she was hanging two meters from the ground. She pulled her right arm in a fast motion, and her wand jumped towards her hand. The holster was her own design to get her wand faster and she was glad she put it on before the flight. She undid the belts and buckles that kept her tied to the parachute and pointed her wand to the ground to slow her fall.</p><p>"<em>Arresto Momentum</em>" And the Lieutenant landed softly on the snowy ground. To promptly point her wand to her left where a smiling woman stared back at her.</p><p>"Great reflexes, as usual, lieutenant"</p><p>"Ginny, is that you?" Hermione blinked surprised "you look so different-"</p><p>"As a blonde?" Ginevra Weasley chuckled before engulfing Hermione in a hug "well, the Germans hate redheads so…"</p><p>"It fits you, 2nd lieutenant" Hermione replied with a smile.</p><p>"Let's talk in a warmer place, preferably away from the Germans as possible." Ginny signaled one of her women that approached with a suitcase while another placed a body with an English army uniform by Hermione's feet "now, strip and change into these" the former redhead opened the suitcase and several female clothing items could be seen.</p><p>"Just ignore the dead body, it's a decoy so the Germans think it was you" Ginny waved her hand dismissively and Hermione just chuckled while buttoning a dress.</p><p>
  <em>Ginevra has certainly become a great spy.</em>
</p><p>"I am ready" the lieutenant commented while putting on some heels.</p><p>"Let's go home before the curfew starts" Ginevra grabbed the lieutenant by the arm before whispering in fluent Dutch "<strong>welcome to the Netherlands, Hermione</strong>"</p><hr/><p>After briefing the lieutenant and apologizing for his brother's stupidity, Ginevra served some dinner for her superior and started explaining her plan.</p><p>"The convoy will take our prisoners and make them board the 10 pm train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Due to a resistance's bombing, the train rails were blown so they have to take them by truck to a station in the next town" Ginny pointed at the map "this is our chance"</p><p>"Brilliant" Hermione commented while observing the well-thought plan.</p><p>"We then take their guns and uniforms and escape in the truck to the French border" Ginny elaborated "there are magical allied French troops in Metz that can aid us."</p><p>"Sounds great, excellent job, 2nd lieutenant" Hermione gave her a pat in the back.</p><p>"Only the two of us will be on the rescue team as the other women will be working with the resistance to distract the guards so they don't notice the lack of the truck until it's too late" Ginny explained.</p><p>"Not a problem-"</p><p>"Ginny, they included their names on the new list" a blonde girl with brown eyes whispered while opening the door.</p><p>"Fuck" the former redhead stood and grabbed a pile of papers from a nearby table and checked some timetables before raising her eyes to lock with Hermione's amber "well, my dear lieutenant, your vacation has been cut short due to an unexpected reschedule courtesy of the Germans."</p><p>"When are we acting then?"</p><p>"Tomorrow night"</p><p>"Bloody hell" Hermione cursed, and Ginny just shrugged. It was not a rare occurrence, after all.</p><hr/><p>A shaved redhead man along with two taller and bulkier men were tied and blindfolded before being shoved in the back of a truck. One German soldier sat with them while the second guard decided on sitting with the driver. The drive was not that long, only half an hour, but for the prisoners was the closest they could get to hell on Earth.</p><p>They all had heard the rumors of the always burning chimneys in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the horror behind the infamous shower rooms. The constant smell of burned flesh along with the perpetual snow made of human ashes. The three men were beyond petrified at the prospect of living that utter hell making Bergen-Belsen look like a resort.</p><p>"I just hope that we die as soon as we get there, I am so tired of this all," a scared-looking Crabbe whispered in English, and Goyle nodded profusely. They were a complete paradox with their rough and bulky exterior while inside they were just as scared children. Ron, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet after barely surviving a typhus outbreak in his barracks.</p><p>His weakened state was evident after losing a quarter of his body weight, and his originally hunky look was long gone, leaving a malnourished and barely alive carcass behind. It didn't help either all the things he had witnessed, all the carnage and suffering among the prisoners that were not '<em>special</em>' as he was. The only perk of being a prisoner of war was that would not die, <em>yet</em>. He would always wake up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep anymore due to the constant nightmares.</p><p>The three prisoners were suddenly surprised when the truck stopped abruptly. Ron who was the weakest fell on the metal ground of the truck face down and stayed there without any desire to sit again. The German guard pointed his rifle at the prisoners ready to shoot in case of need.</p><p>The doors of the truck closed, and the driver along with the second guard walked towards a pair of gorgeous ladies walking back to the town by the side of the road. "<strong>Good night ladies, care for a ride back home?</strong>" the driver asked in German.</p><p>"<strong>We wouldn't like to impose</strong>" the woman with curly hair replied in the same language with a cheeky smile. The guard exchanged glances with the driver, and both smiled satisfied.</p><p>"<strong>We have to drive some animals to the station but after that, we can go to a bar and have fun, what do you say?</strong>" the first guard wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulders that let escape a shy giggle before turning to nod at her brown-haired friend "<strong>Sure</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Let's get you in the front and I will sit in the rear, then</strong>" the first guard offered and had no time to hear the reply when two shots were fired and both men landed on their knees with blood pouring from the bullet wounds in their stomachs.</p><p>"<strong>Nothing personal, scum</strong>" Hermione added in German before shooting the driver between his eyes while Ginny did the same with the other one. Two more shots were heard coming from inside the truck and the two officers took cover on the sides and approached the rear of the truck as silently as possible.</p><p>The second guard had killed Goyle and Crabbe and was about to kill Ron when he got shot on the legs which made him lose his balance and fall off the truck. Landing on his back on the dirty ground of the road, the last thing the second guard saw was the end of Hermione's gun pointed at his forehead before a loud shot was heard.</p><p>"Dammit, these two are dead" Ginny commented after checking Crabbe and Goyle's pulse.</p><p>"At least your brother is alive" Hermione added while Ron grunted and sat "Not looking so much of a hunk now, are you?"</p><p>"You are still not funny Granger, but I am glad to see you" Ron whispered before her sister held him tight "I missed you, too, Ginny"</p><p>"I am sorry to interrupt the lovely reunion, but we have to move as fast as possible before the Germans notice your escape" Hermione jumped out of the truck and started undressing the second guard "you guys exchange clothes with the dead driver and the other soldier." After the lieutenant was dressed in the dark uniform of the 'SS' she approached the side of the road the Germans found them and grabbed a pair of backpacks that were hidden under a thick white camouflage blanket and placed them in the rear of the truck.</p><p>Ginny helped her brother out of the automobile and walked to where the first guard was. After changing into Nazi uniforms and leaving Crabbe and Goyle's bodies next to the German soldiers, Ron was placed in the rear of the truck so he could rest while Hermione was behind the wheel with Ginny by her side.</p><hr/><p>Due to the snow, the drive of normally eight hours to Metz turned into almost twelve. The road was covered with a thin sheet of ice that made the truck slip which made the drive even more tiring and dangerous.</p><p>Seven straight hours driving and four checkpoints later, Hermione finally gave the wheel to Ginny. The brown-haired lieutenant was exhausted from all the intense emotions she had gone through in such a short period of time. Despite all her training, Hermione couldn't help to feel pity for all the human lives that had been lost due to greed for power and insanity. She wished the war ended soon but the projections estimated that it would continue for at least two more seasons.</p><p>
  <em>Six or more months of this damn war.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>How many casualties would that add?</em>
</p><p>"Blimey, Hermione I can hear the cogs in your mind turning, try to get some sleep instead, will ya?" Ginny commented while taking a sharp curve.</p><p>"Fine, I'll try" Hermione mumbled and closed her eyes once more. This time, sleep received her with open arms.</p><hr/><p>The next time Hermione opened her eyes, everything was covered with a thick layer of snow, while the sun was hiding behind gray clouds. The sky looked as painted in watercolors with strokes of orange, purple, and pink.</p><p>It was a view worth of admiring if you weren't running from the Nazis while trying to cross to Allied France in one piece and wearing the former's uniforms. It was quite unfortunate that they couldn't take their English Army uniforms with them, but the backpacks only had enough space for food and water.</p><p>"Lieutenant, it's time to go" Ginny knocked on the truck's window and Hermione remembered where she was.</p><p>
  <em>The war.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Get to Metz.</em>
</p><p>"Let's go" Hermione jumped out of the truck and was glad that the Nazi uniforms were thicker than her own because it was freezing. They needed to move if they wanted to get to Metz before nighttime when a sure dead by freezing would await them. After setting the truck on fire, the three English Army officers disguised as SS soldiers started the two-hour trek to cross the border and two more hours to get to Metz.</p><hr/><p>After burying themselves in the snow every time a Nazi patrol went by, the trio was able to cross the border swimming right under a bridge. They barely made it as the waters were extremely cold. Luckily, the current was not strong, and the river was not that deep. When they got to the other side with the boots around their shoulders, their feet were turning blue. They put the socks and boots back on before casting some warming charms and restarting their walk, they were getting close and had no time to lose.</p><hr/><p>Gabrielle had gone out to buy some groceries as their rations were almost nonexistent. They got the news a week ago that supplies would arrive in two or three weeks, and with stock for only two more days, they urgently needed food as they only had a surplus of bullets.</p><p>Luckily for the sisters, the townspeople were extremely grateful that they were there so neither food nor thick covers were a problem for the Delacours. Sous-Lieutenant Gabrielle came back carrying a basket full of food and water and two thick white coats under her left arm.</p><p>"<strong>I am back and bearing gifts,</strong>" the younger sibling said in veela with a cheeky smile. The siblings preferred to use their race's language than French in case they were overheard as the language was exclusive of veela.</p><p>"<strong>About time, I am starving</strong>" Fleur hissed while rubbing her arms to keep warm. Gabrielle served her a bowl of steamy <em>potage Parmentier</em>, a soup with potatoes and leek. It tasted like heaven to the hungry blonde.</p><p>"<strong>I also brought some wine</strong>" Gabrielle shower her a bottle, but her sister shook her head.</p><p>"<strong>Not when we are working</strong>" Fleur replied before taking a small and round bread from the basket.</p><p>"<strong>Come on, it's not like-</strong>" the younger blonde looked out of the window and squinted her eyes that started tinting yellow. And then, she saw them "<strong>three Nazi rats are coming from the border, one is limping or something.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Distance?</strong>" Fleur asked while calmly serving a second bowl of soup. Of the two of them, Gabrielle had the better sight so, the Capitaine trusted her sibling's eyes and judgment completely.</p><p>"<strong>Around 5 kilometers away and walking at around 2, no 3,5 kilometers per hour,</strong>" Gabrielle made quick calculations before speaking "<strong>they would be an easy target in around half an hour.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Good, so we have enough time to eat</strong>" Fleur waved her hand to invite her sister to sit in front of her before serving her a bowl of <em>potage Parmentier</em> "<strong>they died the moment they dared to cross the border, anyway.</strong>"</p><hr/><p>"Ron, can you walk better now?" Ginny asked her limping brother.</p><p>"I am too cold, and I can't feel my feet after we cro-crossed the river, s-so" Ron stammered with bluish lips.</p><p>"We are almost there" Hermione pointed at a tall fortress in the distance "see? That's the place we are going"</p><p>"Lieutenant, permission to take a break," Ginny asked in a serious tone.</p><p>"Fine, let's rest behind that wall, just in case" Hermione pointed behind her. There was an abandoned house that was probably destroyed in one of the several bombings that the area had suffered in earlier months.</p><p>Only a partially destroyed wall remained standing of the home and it was a perfect cover in case of an unexpected attack. They still had the rifles they took from the Nazi soldiers and their English Army guns in case they had to defend themselves.</p><p>Hermione and Ginny checked their wands while Ron leaned his back on the wall and slid down until he landed on the floor with a loud thud. The redhead soldier took off his boots and socks to find his toes numb, hard, and pale. That was definitely a bad sign.</p><p>"Ginny, cast as many warming charms as you can, before he gets frostbite," Hermione ordered, and the former redhead performed at least half a dozen until her wand ran out of magic.</p><p>Unfortunately, due to international regulations, wizards and witches had a magic block in their wands to avoid misuse. It was a terrible decision that had cost the lives of several officers when their wands <em>ran out</em> of magic in the middle of a battle. That's why most magical officers were trained in weapons, explosives, survival, and combat.</p><p>Hermione also cast several warming charms for the three of them until she noticed that her wand's magic was almost depleted. Then, the lieutenant turned to look at her friends. They were exhausted, but, at the same time, really close to getting proper rest. They just had to get to the fortress.</p><p>"Are you warm enough to continue, Ron?" Hermione asked while making sure her own toes and fingers weren't numb as her subordinate.</p><p>"I think so" Ron tried to stand but his legs failed him. Ginny and Hermione held him and helped him walk. The man was in real bad shape.</p><p>"One step at a time, come on, Ron" Ginny encouraged her sibling who nodded and took a step forward "we are almost there." The three English officers left the wall, got to the main road again, and resumed their walk.</p><hr/><p>"<strong>That was a delicious meal, thanks Gaby</strong>" Fleur sighed before stretching her legs and arms. Being on the same position for the last eight-hour shift took a toll on her normally active body.</p><p>"<strong>Next time, you go to the town; it's too cold out there</strong>" Gabrielle replied while grabbing her modified Mosin-Nagant rifle and making sure the magazine was loaded with enough 7,62x55mm bullets for the upcoming <em>job</em>.</p><p>"<strong>Why don't you use your veela skin? It would keep you warm</strong>" Fleur asked while taking off her winter coat, and pants before closing her eyes. With the wave of her hand, her underwear vanished, leaving a focused magical creature naked.</p><p>She took a deep breath and her skin gleamed yellow as if flames covered her from the neck down to her toes. The thin skin made of flames kept them warm despite being slightly see-through.</p><p>That's why they preferred to work by themselves; to avoid other snipers lusting after them instead of focusing on their mission. It had happened before, and it was quite hard to restrain Gabrielle to kill them after they tried to fondle and made inappropriate comments about them.</p><p>Fleur azure orbs tinted yellow the more she used her veela magic that luckily had no human restrictions and enhanced her sight and accuracy skills. Perfect traits for the job.</p><p>"<strong>Because I don't want to walk naked just covered by see-through flames, Fleur</strong>" Gabrielle replied with a roll of her eyes while her body devoid of clothes unleashed her own dark yellow flames to cover herself "<strong>unlike you, I am not an exhibitionist.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Prude</strong>" Fleur teased before taking her own Mosin-Nagant. The siblings got the modified rifles as a thank you gift for saving a Russian veela family from a Nazi killing squad and they immediately abandoned their French weapons as those weren't as accurate and reliable as the Russian ones that were modified to work with their <em>magie</em> "<strong>all</strong> <strong>veela are proud of their bodies</strong>" the Capitaine sat and placed her rifle on a windowsill.</p><p>"<strong>I am proud, but not to the point of parading in the nude in front of human civilians</strong>" Gabrielle replied with a scowl before getting in position and look through the scope to adjust the angle of her own rifle while infusing more <em>magie</em> to her now vibrant orange eyes "<strong>950 meters, reference tall dry tree on the right, 2 o'clock.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>Seen</strong>" Fleur replied while infusing her own rifle with her <em>magie</em>. The wood now gleamed bright yellow.</p><p>"<strong>From the dry tree, 4 meters 5 o'clock, small gray mounds with black spots. The mound in the middle with irregular spots are the boots of the limping one, seen?</strong>" Gabrielle asked.</p><p>"<strong>Seen, head or heart?</strong>" Fleur asked. She always gave her sister the option to fire first as a reward for her perfect spotting of targets. They always killed their first victim with simultaneous shots. Cruel but effective.</p><p>"<strong>Safety off, the heart for me</strong>" Gabrielle replied before gently placing her finger on the trigger.</p><p>"<strong>Safety off, the head for me, then</strong>" Fleur replicated her sister's movement "<strong>Fire.</strong>" Thanks to their <em>magie</em>, the two simultaneous shots sounded like soft pops.</p><p>It was the perfect muffler to kill unaware targets. It was not only until Ron leaned forward and became too heavy to carry that Hermione and Ginny realized that Corporal Weasley was killed.</p><p>"Snipers!" Hermione yelled and looked everywhere trying to find the shooter while using her wand to cast shielding spells with the last of her magic. The lieutenant was surprised as she didn't even hear the shots being fired.</p><p>"Ginny, take cover while I try to get their attention" Hermione yelled but the former redhead landed on her knees by her brother's dead body and observed how the snow tinted crimson.</p><p>"Ginevra!" the lieutenant shouted once more to no avail. In desperation, she tried to drag the other woman behind a nearby dry tree, but she was petrified staring at the blood still pouring from the wounds of her dead brother.</p><p>"<strong>Blonde for me, arm</strong>" Gabrielle stated while pulling the rifle's bolt back, so another bullet entered the chamber.</p><p>The siblings were so deadly that they normally called the parts of the body they would hit. Due to the magically enhanced rifles and their own talent, their aim was extremely accurate. That's why the Nazis were terrified of them.</p><p>"<strong>Brunette for me, leg</strong>" Fleur said while adjusting the rifle to the new target and pulling the rifle's bolt back to reload once more "<strong>fire</strong>"</p><p>Two new muffled shots were heard as soft pops but neither the brunette nor the blonde were harmed. Instead, Fleur felt a bullet hit her left leg, and the wound started to bleed rapidly while Gabrielle moaned in pain due to a bullet that impacted her right arm.</p><p>"<strong>What's happening? They didn't shoot</strong>" Gabrielle dropped her rifle and her arm tinted crimson "<strong>I aimed at the arm of the blonde.</strong>"</p><p>"<strong>I aimed at the leg of the brunette.</strong>" It took the siblings aa few seconds to realize something that they thought was impossible.</p><p>One of their childhood lessons, that they thought was just a veela legend, turned to be real. They even recalled the moment when Apolline Delacour taught them about the core belief of their culture for the first time. They felt as if it was just yesterday, but their mother was long gone. Despite that, her words would live on in their hearts and now resonate in their minds as a vivid memento of the past.</p><p>
  <em>You are unable to inflict an injury to your soulmate, intentional or not. If you dare to try, you will receive the damage instead.</em>
</p><p>"<strong>Merde Fleur, they are our-</strong>" Gabrielle cursed.</p><p>"<strong>Soulmates, yes,</strong>" Fleur remarked with mixed feelings before calmly placing her rifle on the wooden floor before grabbing a first-aid kit from a backpack by her chair's left leg and started inspecting her wound. It was not as bad as she originally thought thanks to her <em>veela skin.</em></p><p>
  <em>Soulmates with a Nazi.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Merde.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another cliffy! I am being evil but you will read the second [and maybe final] part of this fic. See you tomorrow with the next part of this fic. If you want more, you know what to do.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Silence and Shadow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ron is dead. Fleur and Gabrielle have found their soulmates dressed as Nazis. Confessions are needed, redemption is sought in the middle of a horrible war</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi and welcome to day 6. Here's the second part of day 5's fic. I hope you like it</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Day 6:</strong> Soulmates</p>
<hr/>
<p>"<strong>Stop moving, Gabrielle</strong>" Fleur scolded while trying to stitch the wound of her overly excited sister. Both injuries were clean shots so the bullets went through and didn't need extraction which was a relief as they didn't have enough medical supplies for something like that "<strong>I will finish faster if you let me finish the stitches.</strong>"</p>
<p>"<strong>I am glad we didn't shoot them in a deadly place</strong>" Gabrielle snorted "<strong>we would be in trouble if we did.</strong>"</p>
<p>"<strong>You mean dead</strong>" Fleur deadpanned.</p>
<p>"<strong>Oui, that</strong>" Gabrielle turned to French this time. She was quite excited at the prospect of meeting her soulmate, Nazi or not. It was so rare that she just wanted to treasure the joy it caused in her. A feeling that she thought was long gone due to all that had happened to them during the war. "<strong>Although</strong>, <strong>I like redheads more.</strong>"</p>
<p>Vibrant dark blues stared at conflicted baby blues. Fleur's eyes looked like a storm was brewing and the consequences would whether create just a disturbance or unleash a storm. Trying to defuse whatever terrible thoughts her sister was having; Gabrielle smiled and grabbed some bandages from the first-aid kit.</p>
<p>"<strong>Do you need help with your wound? It's kinda bleeding again</strong>" the younger blonde asked and Fleur cursed. The older sibling could be very good at tending other's wounds, especially her sister's, but normally neglected hers.</p>
<p>"It's f<strong>ine</strong>" Fleur pouted, and Gabrielle shook her head with a smile.</p>
<p>"<strong>You look like my baby sister when you do that</strong>" Gabrielle smirked and Fleur made a bigger pout. "<strong>All done.</strong>"</p>
<p>"<strong>I will go and drag our soulmates</strong>" Gabrielle grabbed her winter uniform and got dressed after getting rid of her <em>veela skin</em> "<strong>you cover my sexy ass</strong>"</p>
<p>"<strong>It's not sexy</strong>" Fleur deadpanned again. It was certainly one of her favorite facial expressions when it came to her sister.</p>
<p>"<strong>I am glad you don't see me that way, it'd be weird otherwise</strong>" a chuckling Gabrielle dodged an old piece of bread before taking a Luger P08 she had picked up from the last Nazis they had killed. "<strong>And wear something Fleur, you don't want your soulmate to think that you are the exhibitionist you </strong><em><strong>really</strong></em><strong> are</strong>" She blew a kiss to her sister and headed to the entrance of the small fortress.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Once outside, Gabrielle walked towards the still shocked <em>Nazis</em>. She had no intention of harming them. She just wanted to escort them inside their fortress so they can calmly explain that now they were somehow connected.</p>
<p>
  <em>Explaining the soulmate thing will be a hassle.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And they're Nazis.</em>
</p>
<p>"Bonne après-midi, ladies" Gabrielle greeted in French with a bow, and could swear she heard her sister scoff from behind the scope of her rifle back in the fortress "<strong>I am here to escort you to the fortress, I assure you that no harm shall befall you now that you are prisoners of war, yes</strong>?"</p>
<p>"You're shitting me, right?" Ginny snapped irately in perfect English; her face tinted in a furious red "no harm? Like my <em>dead </em>brother over there." Gabrielle barely had time to dodge a right hook Ginevra Weasley threw at her.</p>
<p>
  <em>So, they understand French, speak English, and don't look Nazi at all. Good.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It was her brother?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Merde.</em>
</p>
<p>"2nd Lieutenant stop," Hermione warned, and Ginny regained a bit of her composure. It was taking all in her not to punch the blonde in front of her and wipe that ridiculous smirk she had.</p>
<p>"<strong>We are not German soldiers</strong>," Hermione spoke in perfect French, and raised her hands in surrender "<strong>we had to use these uniforms to escape from them.</strong>"</p>
<p>"Do you have any proof?" Gabrielle replied in English this time. She was finally thankful that her mothers forced them to learn the language.</p>
<p>"We have our ID Disks with us, may I?" Hermione asked before raising her neck to withdraw them from under her coat.</p>
<p>When Gabrielle nodded, the brunette and the blonde pulled at the 38'' cotton cord and showed them to the blonde that inspected them. They were made of fiber. One was octagonal and colored green while the second was round and red in color. It hung tied to the green one by a 4.5 inches cotton cord. It contained their basic information.</p>
<p>"Lieutenant Granger and 2nd Lieutenant Weasley, Army officers" Gabrielle stated, and Hermione nodded "I assume you were undercover"</p>
<p>"Yes," the brunette nodded.</p>
<p>"You know that anybody could take this from a corpse and pretend to be Brits," Gabrielle added before turning to the still incensed Ginny with a cocky smirk.</p>
<p>"I would normally agree, but we are not SS troops and I can prove that <em>those</em>" Hermione pointed at their ID disks that the blonde sniper had in her left hand "are ours."</p>
<p>"Enlighten me then, Lieutenant" Gabrielle added with an amused smile.</p>
<p>"My pleasure, <em>officière</em>" Hermione spoke in French before taking off her coat "you see, recognizing SS officers is quite easy as the ones belonging to that branch have a tattoo."</p>
<p>Hermione unbuttoned her shirt and took it off "of their blood type on the underside of their left arm with their blood type whether in <em>Fraktur</em> or <em>Latin-style </em>lettering." Hermione raised her left arm an no tattoo was visible "as you can see, <em>officière</em> I don't have any and I assure you that she doesn't have one either".</p>
<p>"Although if you don't believe me, she can show you." The brunette looked at Ginny and raised her head slightly. The grumbling blonde did the same and showed her tattoo-free arm to a slightly blushing Gabrielle.</p>
<p>"I believe you" the French sniper gave them a genuine smile that took the English soldiers aback, especially certain dyed blonde. Something stirred inside her when that happened, but her anger was greater, so she kept her scowl while redressing "now, we should go inside the fortress, I bet you are dying for a warm bath because it's too cold to be outside"</p>
<p>"I know I am but, we can't leave him here" Hermione pointed at the dead body of Ron a few meters away "he at least deserves to be buried."</p>
<p>"You shot him, didn't you?" Ginny glared at the French sniper.</p>
<p>"Oui, I did" Gabrielle spat back "it's war, remember?"</p>
<p>"But he was my brother!" Ginny yelled back.</p>
<p>"And I lost my cousins, grandmothers, and mothers slaughtered by the Germans!" Gabrielle shouted losing all composure. She was great at compartmentalizing, but the memories of her dead family were always a sore spot for the French sniper "I vowed to kill all the Nazi rats I run into."</p>
<p>"We are not German!" Ginny screamed and was about to swing at the French sniper once more when Hermione grabbed her by the waist.</p>
<p>"Have you taken a look at the uniforms you are wearing?" a red-faced Gabrielle shouted again irately "you are wearing <em>SS attires</em>, of course, that I will kill you"</p>
<p>"Why didn't you, then?" Ginny screamed the question at the top of her lungs and the blonde sniper stiffened.</p>
<p>"I can't" Gabrielle replied cryptically and turned around to walk towards Ron's corpse "I will carry him inside and we can bury him if that makes you feel better."</p>
<p>"I will help you" Hermione offered before turning to Ginny with a stern look "2nd Lieutenant, take the guns and cover our backs, it's an order"</p>
<p>"That won't be necessary-" a wincing Gabrielle stated while grabbing Ron and wrapping her right arm around his waist "there's another sniper covering for us."</p>
<p>
  <em>Merde, the stitches.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Fleur will be so mad.</em>
</p>
<p>"Let's go" the French sniper ordered softly, and the two soldiers dragged Ron's corpse with an angry Ginny in tow.</p>
<p>"I didn't know that the <em>French duo of death</em> was here, we only got intel that there were some French snipers keeping this place, but not <em>you</em>" Hermione whispered so Ginny didn't hear her; she didn't want to have an argument like the one she just witnessed.</p>
<p>"Duo of death?" Gabrielle asked confused.</p>
<p>"You are known as that among our Army officers" Hermione whispered back "you have the highest sniper kills of all the allied forces."</p>
<p>"I don't think that would impress her" Gabrielle commented bitterly.</p>
<p>"Well, she <em>is</em> a great fan of the sniper of the duo they call <em>shadow</em>" Hermione added before turning to see if Ginny was close to them; she was keeping her distance. "That's you, innit?"</p>
<p>"Oui, I am" Gabrielle nodded.</p>
<p>"So the one covering us is-"</p>
<p>"<em>Silence</em>, my sister, oui" Gabrielle interrupted before trying to readjust the weight of the corpse. The man was getting too heavy for her wounded and now bleeding arm.</p>
<p>"Oh, I am a great fan of her work, she's a brilliant sniper" Hermione gushed and Gabrielle snorted at the absurdity of the conversation while dragging a dead body in freezing weather and in the middle of an endless war. Only a soulmate would make sense among the madness of all that was surrounding them "well, both of you are."</p>
<p>"Merci" Gabrielle replied before turning to look at Ginny "Could you help us with the door, please?"</p>
<p>"There's no fuckin-"</p>
<p>"Ginevra!" Hermione shouted with a scowl "the door, <em>please</em>" the dyed blonde complied; not before sending an angry look towards her lieutenant and the French sniper's way.</p>
<hr/>
<p><em>The fortress</em> in reality was more a fortified home with double walls, a small garden in the middle, and a two-story small manor with high ceilings. The windows of the ground floor were covered with planks probably taken from a partially dismantled shed. On the second floor, Hermione how blonde strands of hair swayed with the wind by the barrel of a rifle pointing at something in the distance.</p>
<p>
  <em>That must be Silence.</em>
</p>
<p>"This was our summer home before the war" Gabrielle answered the unasked question. "we were surprised when they sent us here and the manor was still standing."</p>
<p>"I felt magic when we crossed the walls" Hermione mused</p>
<p>"There are magical guards all over the property" the French sniper nodded "so the Brits finally allowed magic users in their ranks, huh"</p>
<p>"There are a few left" the brunette replied while placing Ron's corpse on the living room's floor "most of them died due to the restrictions"</p>
<p>"Then, what?"</p>
<p>"You see this?" Hermione withdrew her wand and showed Gabrielle the bottom of it. There was a small dark cube attached to the handle "this restricts our magic so when you feel a pull, the magic flow gets interrupted and there's no way to use it again for a day."</p>
<p>"That's terrible" a voice commented from the top of the stairs. Three pairs of eyes looked up and certain amber widened in surprise. A tall and regal woman with striking baby blue eyes looked down at them.</p>
<p>She was dressed in a faded dark blue jacket with three straps in gold. The rest of the insignias were ripped or faded.</p>
<p>
  <em>Three stripes, a captain, huh.</em>
</p>
<p>The pants she was wearing were not part of the uniform as they were loose and lighter in color. A dried blood stain caught Hermione's attention as it was getting darker.</p>
<p>
  <em>She's bleeding.</em>
</p>
<p>"Why are you not sitting?" Gabrielle growled in English when she saw her sister frozen in the spot observing Hermione. A small smirk appeared in her face; it amused her to see her older sister in that state. "Let me introduce you to our <em>not Nazi</em> guests, 2nd Lieutenant Weasley and Lieutenant Granger from the English Army."</p>
<p>"Hermione is fine" the lieutenant smiled at the blonde next to her and put her ID disks back on before looking up and locked eyes with the still frozen blonde at the top of the stairs. The brunette climbed the stairs like an invisible force was pulling her towards the blonde captain "Lieutenant Hermione Granger, special operations of the British Army, a pleasure."</p>
<p>"Capitaine Fleur Delacour, also known as <em>Silence</em>, a sniper of the first division of the French Army," the blonde replied before stretching the hand of the officer. The reaction was immediate. Fleur's skin tingled and her eyes tinted with pale swirling yellow lines.</p>
<p>This woman in front of her was indeed her soulmate; the reaction was just as her <em>mama</em> described when she was a young girl. She even saw how the brunette's eyes tinted with a bit of yellow and that was a good sign.</p>
<p>"<strong>You are bleeding, </strong><em><strong>Capitaine</strong></em>" Hermione spoke in French and Fleur was impressed. Not many English officers bothered learning her language and speak it with that native fluency. Blue eyes looked down at where the brunette was pointing, and she was indeed bleeding "<strong>mind if I take a look?</strong>" Fleur shook her head walked to a nearby with the brunette in tow.</p>
<p>
  <em>Smooth, Granger.</em>
</p>
<p>A smiling Gabrielle turned to look at an angry Ginny. This woman was her soulmate but, by the looks of it, it won't be easy to convince her of that.</p>
<p>"2nd lieutenant, Weasley is a long name, can I call you Ginevra?"</p>
<p>"Sod off, Delacour" Ginny spat back, and Gabrielle sighed; this was going to be harder than she thought. The French sniper took off her winter jacket and her shirt before turning to the dyed blonde.</p>
<p>"Could you please check if the stitches came undone? I can't see them properly" the blonde asked while sitting in a chair in just her wrapped chest. Gabrielle preferred bandages than bras as they gave her more stability; that's what she said to her sister that just laughed at her reasoning.</p>
<p>"Fine" Ginny hissed "where are the supplies?"</p>
<p>"In the bathroom, second door to the right" Gabrielle winced when she raised her injured arm. The dyed blonde walked towards the place she pointed and came back with the medical supplies plus a small bowl with water and a towel.</p>
<p>"Don't move" Ginny ordered before cleaning the bloody area. Three front stitches and two in the back came undone and the skin tore more than necessary due to a recent effort.</p>
<p>
  <em>She didn't say anything when she was carrying Ron.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Bloody idiot.</em>
</p>
<p>"I will stitch the area again, hold still" the English officer started the small procedure feeling suddenly nervous. It was not the first time she had done this; despite that, she felt a mixture of anxiety and something else that she couldn't figure out. She promptly finished the ones in the back and then started with the ones in the front.</p>
<p>There was something about the French sniper in front of her that made it really hard for Ginny to be mad at her. She didn't know what, but she will figure it out. In a moment, Gabrielle's skin came in contact with Ginevra's fingertips and the latter frowned. Warmth engulfed her and her eyes became blurry.</p>
<p>Ginny took a step back and blinked. Gabrielle looked up at her and the 2nd lieutenant could swear she saw the blonde's eyes shine with a dark yellow tint.</p>
<p>"I am sorry about your brother" the blonde sniper whispered remorsefully. It was not the same to kill nameless enemies than one with a relative, that also was her soulmate, standing in front of her.</p>
<p>"I am still hurting" Ginny sighed with tears in her eyes "but thank you for bringing the body inside"</p>
<p>"It's the least I could do"</p>
<p>"Next time just don't tear the stitches, you stupid Frenchie" Ginny scolded before poking the blonde's recently closed wound. The blonde looked at her with wide eyes as the English officer was the one feeling the pain in her arm.</p>
<p>"What just happened?" a surprised Ginny asked while checking her unscathed arm to find the source of the pain she just felt "I have no injuries and felt pain when I poked at your wound"</p>
<p>"Well, you see-" Gabrielle rubbed the back of her neck nervously trying to find the right words to explain how the 2nd lieutenant was her <em>soulmate</em>.</p>
<p>
  <em>Here goes nothing.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>"There, I am done" Hermione smiled at the more relaxed blonde. Fleur asked the brunette about how she ended up in France and the latter told her the story from the moment she left England until she was almost killed not even an hour ago.</p>
<p>"Thank you 'ermione" Fleur smiled</p>
<p>"It was nothing, just don't move around much" Hermione shrugged "how did you get injured anyway? It's pretty hard to injure a <em>veela skin </em>user."</p>
<p>"How do you know about that?" Fleur was flabbergasted. It was rare that a <em>nonveela</em> knew about their magical abilities.</p>
<p>"My grandmother was the soulmate of a veela, unfortunately, she died young and granny remarried my grandfather" Hermione explained, "she used to tell me stories about magical creatures."</p>
<p>"We are veela, oui" Fleur remarked "our clan heads were murdered, and the heiresses decided to join the fight"</p>
<p>"I have heard about the other veela snipers, but they are not as deadly as you two" Hermione pondered "Silence and Shadow, the duo of death is in a league of their own."</p>
<p>"That's a horrible nickname you gave us" Fleur scoffed.</p>
<p>"It was the Americans" Hermione chuckled "they have a knack for weird names."</p>
<p>"They do" the blonde giggled. The melodious sound of the French woman's laughter made the English lieutenant tilt her head and observe how baby blue eyes gleamed with the natural light coming from the window.</p>
<p>Blonde strands that looked as soft as silk, delicate features, a beautiful mind, sensitive soul. Hermione knew that the giggling woman in front of her was like anybody she had met before, and she also knew what that odd pull she felt towards the woman meant.</p>
<p>"I am your soulmate, right Fleur?" the lieutenant asked while locking eyes with those baby blue that gleamed with a yellowish tint.</p>
<p>"You are" the blonde replied while tracing Hermione's hand with her fingers and a sad smile. "To find each other in the middle of this horrible war to be separated again."</p>
<p>"It will end" the brunette played with Fleur fingers trying to enjoy the soft touch.</p>
<p>"You need to go back to your country and report to your base soon"</p>
<p>"I won't stay there forever" Hermione placed her hand on top of Fleur "I can't if I found out that my soulmate is here"</p>
<p>"I won't stop fighting until we win this damn war" Fleur squeezed Hermione's and on top of hers "revenge is the language I use every time I remember my dead family"</p>
<p>"We speak the same language of revenge but eventually peace will come and we would be able to enjoy the silence that comes with peace" Hermione's eyes were full of tears now "my parents were killed in one of London's bombings, trust me I understand the emptiness."</p>
<p>Fleur cupped Hermione's face and smiled between her own tears "please don't cry, it breaks my heart."</p>
<p>"You are also crying," the brunette said and both chuckled. They felt whole and incomplete at the same time. It was a bittersweet feeling finding your soulmate in the middle of all the death, carnage, and lost lives the war had caused. Hermione wiped Fleur's tears and cupped her face as if trying to memorize the gorgeous features of the deadly sniper.</p>
<p>The moment was interrupted by the shouting of an angry Ginny coming from downstairs. She just found out that the assassin of her brother was her soulmate. <em>This was going to be a long night</em>, both Hermione and Fleur thought and smiled to each other.</p>
<p>When Ginny calmed down, the Capitaine and Delacour heiress offered her whether to bury her brother in the family's private cemetery or burn him so she could carry the ashes back home, the 2nd lieutenant chose the latter. Before he was incinerated, Ginny gave him a kiss on the forehead and took his ID disks.</p>
<p>Gabrielle and Fleur used their veela sacred fire to burn the body and collected the ashes in a small but beautifully crafted ash container that Gabrielle reduced with magic so Ginny could take it with her.</p>
<p>In the course of a week, Gabrielle and Fleur's wounds healed and the stitches left small scars behind. The siblings also taught them a way to bypass the restraining device their wands had but only for a half a minute, just to be used in case of emergency. Gabrielle and Ginny's relationship slightly improved and the French blonde was pleased to discover that her soulmate's real hair color was red. Fleur and Gabrielle taught them a magical way to communicate, magical blue butterflies that were able to carry short messages no matter the distance.</p>
<p>During the last day of the second week, they received the visit of a sergeant of the French Army that came with orders for the French officers to stay where they were as two more duos of veela snipers were coming to reinforce their position. He also carried a message to Hermione and Ginevra. They were to report to the train station of Metz in twenty-four hours to be shipped back home. The railroad was finally repaired.</p>
<p>That night, during Gabrielle's night shift and while observing the starry night, Fleur and Hermione shared their first kiss as soulmates. They had been growing closer as the days passed and now it was the night before Hermione had to depart.</p>
<p>Their lips met in desperation while they slowly removed their clothes between tears, a reminder of their imminent separation. They made love for the first time and they knew that this was the end of the road, this was where their hearts would belong.</p>
<p>That same night, Hermione gave Fleur her ID disks and the blonde handed the lieutenant her plaque d'identité, the closest they had as an engagement of sorts. A way to remember the other while apart. Both pieces were charmed so they protect the wearer.</p>
<p>Despite not being on the best terms yet, Ginevra Weasley kissed Gabrielle goodbye the morning she had to leave to the station. Of course, the shorter French sniper would wrap her plaque d'identité around the 2nd lieutenant's left wrist. And of course, Ginny would pretend to be mad and leave to turn around and give her own ID disks to the idiot of her soulmate.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Both officers landed in London a few days later to be received by a relieved Harry. Ron was given a postmortem medal and his ashes given to his mother. War continued for long months and both Ginny and Hermione were sent to missions near the Dutch border with France but not close enough to go back to Metz. Despite that, they tried to use the blue butterflies as much as possible.</p>
<p><em>They are fine</em>, became Ginny, and Hermione's motto every time they received a reply from the gorgeous but deadly snipers.</p>
<p>Finally, the war was over and the allied won. A week later, Hermione asked to be discharged. Thanks to her invaluable service to her country, she was given an honorable discharge and she left England as soon as she could find a plane to Paris. After a long trip by train and truck, Hermione Granger finally stood in front of the still-standing charmed double walls of the Delacour manor in Metz.</p>
<p>She was not even thirty yet, but her face told a different story. She had seen too many deaths in so little time that now she deserved happiness, she earned it. The former lieutenant knocked, and the door magically opened. Hermione's smile grew wide when the warmth of the former <em>Capitaine</em> Fleur Delacour, hugged her like there was no tomorrow. They were finally together, and all was good with the world that was now in peace.</p>
<p>"I am home, Fleur"</p>
<p>"Welcome back, mon amour"</p>
<p>Two weeks later, Ginny Weasley also returned to Metz to be with Gabrielle Delacour, the only one for her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To be honest, I wanted to write everything with more detail but since I am thinking of making this one a multi-chap, too I decided to keep some parts to myself. See you for the last day of this crazy Fleurmione week.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chiaroscuro</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The most famous magical inventor of the last two centuries, Hermione Granger, is a well-known hermit that is forced to attend a series of social events she despises. Her assistant finds a worthy companion to her secretive boss in the form of escort Fleur Delacourt, a Master's degree student that just needs the money to pay for her tuition.<br/>Magical AU - Hurt/Comfort fic with a deadly amount of fluff.<br/>Day 7: Free<br/>#FleurmioneWeek2020</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is it. The last day of Fleurmione week and I am proud to have a perfect week with 7 releases. I hope you like this last installment that I think it also has the potential to turn into a multi-chapter story as well [please don't kill me XD]. I will turn some of these one-shots into long stories after seeing the positive reception they had. My final candidates are all days but day 2 lol. Lots of work ahead but extremely pleased about the results. Thanks to lostparkmih for her patience and encouraging words during the developing of this plot.<br/>Thank you for all the support you guys gave me, I was hesitant to continue writing for Fleurmione but this week renewed my love for this wonderful pairing [and Ginny/Gabs, ofc] Satie - Gymnopédie No. 1 was one of the songs I listened the most while writing this fic.<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Day 7:</strong> Free</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Her amber eyes blinked at the sight of green forests, crystal clear creeks, and snow-capped mountains. She was flying above all. Her lips curved in a wide smile before diving. The brunette was surrounded by clouds in an instant. The softness of the watery vapor tickled her face and nose making her giggle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When she passed by the clouds, the forest was drawing closer at an alarming speed. She couldn't stop the fall as if her flying skill was taken away. Hermione tried to glide to soften the landing but everything she tried was fruitless. The pine trees were drawing closer by the second. Hermione placed her arms in front of her face and braced herself for impact. Just before the impact, a flash of light blinded her.</em>
</p><p>Amber eyes opened and blinked confused. Hermione sat and rubbed her eyes before getting out of the bed and walked to her bathroom. <em>That day</em> was finally here, and she dreaded it. Today was not a regular working day for the talented magical inventor.</p><p>Hermione Granger was the best in her field of magical inventions. After creating a device to dramatically reduced the cases of splinching during apparition close to zero, the young inventor became one of the richest in a field that was practically neglected for more than two centuries.</p><p>A decade and close to a hundred magical patents under her name later, the brunette had diversified to the point that <em>Granger</em> Products became of common use in most magical households.</p><p>That didn't make her feel any better as today was the beginning of a series of events that she had to attend and that she didn't care the least about as they were all about <em>being seen</em>, something that she hated with a passion.</p><p><em>The Royal Lion Circuit</em> was a series of events where the deals were closed, and agreements reached in between horse races, galas, and balls. The mere thought of attending all those affairs made Hermione dizzy.</p><p>The young inventor was rich enough to avoid attending those events, but since her adopted brother and Vice President Harry Potter-Granger wanted their business to expand to a wider and more international market, she had been forced to attend as the face behind the products her company sold.</p><p>Now out of the shower, Hermione covered her body with a fluffy powder blue bathrobe. With a flick of her hand, she silently cast a drying spell for her hair. A few seconds later, her dark brown mane of soft curls cascaded down her middle back while she brushed her pearl white teeth.</p><p>Her routine was complete when she put on the same pair of earrings she had worn for the last decade and that had become part of her identity. They were made of white gold with the upper parts studded with two round brilliant cut diamonds and three sapphires. Suspended below a Burmese pear cut blue magical stone that shone slightly when the brunette softly pressed the center of it.</p><p>She was not one to wear power suits for work unless it was a formal situation so she just changed into a casual attire of dark gray capri pants, beige sneakers, a faded red and white sailor striped t-shirt, and a dark blue tweed blazer with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The inventor never left her house without a pair of sunglasses of which she had a small collection.</p><p>
  <em>The sofa is off by ten centimeters to the left.</em>
</p><p>Hermione fixed the position of the couch before walking to the kitchen where her personal chef served her a cup of black tea with milk.</p><p>"Thank you, Jacques"</p><p>"Any special requests for breakfast, mademoiselle?" the French chef had earned the trust of the secretive Hermione after being the one in charge of feeding the picky eater for almost a decade. The man was able to guess the kind of food Hermione craved just by listening about how busy her day would be.</p><p>"Long day at the office and long night, Jacques" the inventor sighed while resting her head on her right hand and released a long sigh.</p><p>"I know the perfect food to start your day" the man started working and in less than fifteen minutes he fixed something that he knew her boss liked more that she would admit a traditional Japanese breakfast. He had rice and miso soup already made which saved him a great amount of time as he knew his boss normally ate the same food on Sundays.</p><p>The chef placed a bamboo tray by the stove and started serving the food for his boss that was finishing her morning tea. The man served a small amount of steamed rice and placed it in a bowl.</p><p>Right next to it, a bowl of miso soup with tofu, chopped green onions, and some wakame. A small plate with some natto was served by the rice bowl for an extra protein kick the chef knew her boss would need. Another plate with grilled salmon just seasoned with salt was placed on the bamboo tray surrounded by small plates containing small portions of pickled vegetables, seasoned dried seaweed, and a small salad.</p><p>"Here you go, boss" Jacques served the tray in front of a distracted Hermione "careful with the miso soup"</p><p>
  <em>The rice bowl is on the right instead of the left side.</em>
</p><p>"Thank you, Jacques, just what I wanted" the inventor commented with a smile while switching the position of the miso and rice bowls and started eating under the amused gaze of her chef.</p><p>It was supposed to be a relaxing day for the brunette inventor, but it had already turned into a nightmare as she knew that her brother would be arriving soon to pester her about those <em>shallow affairs</em> as she normally called the</p><hr/><p>"Can I just-" Hermione started her annual set of complaints right before the <em>Royal Lion Circuit.</em> This time her brother was having none of it.</p><p>"Oh no, you won't" Harry sighed "you <em>are</em> the one behind the designs and the face of the company, so you will attend all the bloody shows even if I have to drag you"</p><p>"Fine, but I want to go alone" Hermione protested. During last year's events, the brunette went with the heir of another corporation, Blaise Zabini; it was an utter disaster because the handsome man was more focused on showing Hermione off as some sort of trophy than actually having a conversation with her. "I don't want a repeat of last year's mess."</p><p>"Not happening" Harry replied with a roll of his eyes. "you know better than anyone that <em>these</em> are social events and you need a companion"</p><p>"But-"</p><p>"Stop being difficult, 'mione" the dark-haired vice president frowned. "every year we have the same argument, aren't you tired of it?" Hermione was about to complain a bit more, but she closed her mouth instead. She knew that her brother was right. She threw a tantrum every year and the result was always the same; a lot of fruitless opposition to be attending anyway.</p><p>"Fine, I will go to the stupid horse race this afternoon," Hermione hissed and crossed her arms.</p><p>"Brilliant!" When Harry appeared in her penthouse carrying an elegant box with clothes, Hermione knew that those were for her to use for the Royal Ascot that started the <em>Royal Lion Circuit</em> and he wasn't accepting no for an answer.</p><p>"Ginny sent this ahead, so you start changing before she comes to help you with your hair and makeup" the bespectacled man added while fixing the knot of his burgundy tie. "now hurry and change before she arrives with your date"</p><p>"She's more of a babysitter than an assistant," Hermione sighed before something clicked in her mind. The inventor turned around and scowled "my what?"</p><p>"You heard me" Harry brushed his dark strands before putting on his top hat. "your date will arrive with Ginny any minute now, so you'd better change clothes."</p><p>"It's not that-"</p><p>"They are not Zabini nor someone you had met before" Harry pushed her softly towards her room "go change, come on"</p><p>"Fine" Hermione hissed once more before slamming her bedroom's door shut.</p><hr/><p>After changing into a three-piece shirtless white suit, Hermione unlocked her door for Ginny to enter the moment she arrived. Ginevra Weasley was hired by <em>Granger Products </em>as a receptionist, but after a while, Hermione took her as her assistant when the fiery redhead was able to successfully cover for the inventor assistant's position when hers was out on maternity leave.</p><p>It was as if she was able to anticipate Hermione's needs before she asked for something and that was an invaluable skill that, added to the redhead's impeccable organizing abilities made her perfect for the job. When Hermione's assistant came back, she was reassigned to her brother because his own was about to retire. That was half a decade ago.</p><p>"Tell me that you are already dressed," Ginny voiced from outside and Hermione just hummed which was enough for the assistant to enter her boss' bedroom "bloody hell, you look hot."</p><p>"Thank you for choosing this for me, Ginny" Hermione sat in front of a full-length mirror and the redhead used her wand to change the inventor's hairstyle into a tousled bun. She also applied a few touches of makeup and finished the inventor's look by applying a bit of pale pink lipstick. "now you are done, and you look too sexy."</p><p>"Stop it" Hermione chuckled nervously; she did not feel comfortable when complimented. "so, who's my mystery date?"</p><p>"I took care of it and <em>she</em> is a great match for you" Ginny smiled knowingly "despite being a paid escort, she basically checks on all your insane requirements for a date, and she is smoking hot."</p><p>"Wait, an escort?" Hermione scowled "that's the most preposterous idea you have come up with and I am not even mentioning the time you paired me up with your friend Luna, that girl is just too much crazy bottled up in that insane head of hers."</p><p>"Before you go on a rant, hear me out" Ginny placed a hand on her boss' shoulder "she's the crème de la crème of the escorts which means that she's not only drop-dead gorgeous but also smart enough to have a conversation with anyone in any room about any topic you imagine; she also speaks four languages, one of them is a dead one."</p><p>"So, she's a bit intelligent-" Hermione rolled her eyes.</p><p>"She's more than that, actually-"</p><p>"That doesn't mean-"</p><p>"She will be your escort for the day, if you are not satisfied, she will refund the galleons paid for her services." Ginny stared at her boss with a serious expression.</p><p>
  <em>Deep frown.</em>
</p><p>"Fine" Hermione sighed before standing "but only if she passes my test."</p><p>"Yeah, why not, I am not the one being evaluated anyways" Ginny shrugged, and both left the room.</p><hr/><p>The moment Hermione entered the living room, any traces of the polite conversation Harry was having with the escort ended abruptly and the inventor's date stood up.</p><p>
  <em>Five centimeters taller. With her current high heels, the height difference remains.</em>
</p><p>A blonde woman with silvery blonde hair and blue eyes approached the inventor that froze on the spot. She was dressed in a fit and flare deep red dress and medium-size black heels with a matching purse.</p><p>"Fleur Delacour, a pleasure-"</p><p>"In what year Mt. Vesuvius erupted?" Hermione promptly interrupted the polite greeting.</p><p>"79AD and buried not only Pompeii and Herculaneum, but some other Roman cities" Fleur replied while placing a loose strand of blonde hair behind her left ear. She was expecting something like this the moment she received the call from the assistant of the wealthy inventor famous for her incisive questions and eccentricities.</p><p>Fleur was no ignorant either, she had studies magical and muggle history and was finishing a master's in psychology; that's why she took this job, a faster way to pay for her expensive tuition, nothing more.</p><p>"Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,</p><p>Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks</p><p>Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls</p><p>Of heroes into Hades' dark,</p><p>And left their bodies to rot as feasts" Hermione recited by memory and Fleur could not help but smile at the focused expression of the inventor.</p><p>"For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.</p><p>Begin with the clash between Agamemnon-</p><p>The Greek warlord-and godlike Achilles." The blonde continued "The Iliad, one of my favorite books." At this, Hermione hummed with a raised eyebrow. Now Fleur knew that the inventor would raise the stakes.</p><p>"The most dangerous dragons is-"</p><p>"the Hungarian horntail that can breathe fire up to 15.24 meters and has spikes all over his head-"</p><p>"and tail" Hermione interrupted and smiled confidently "how about Latin's declensions?"</p><p>"There are five and seven cases to use, Mademoiselle Granger" Fleur immediately added in a teasing tone "do you want me to name them, as well?"</p><p>"That won't be necessary" a more relaxed inventor commented before approaching and extending her hand "you can call me Hermione, Miss Delacour." Both Harry and Ginny witnessed the odd exchange in a mixture of admiration and surprise. Fleur was indeed a great match to Hermione's sharp mind.</p><p>"Fleur is fine, Hermione" the blonde smiled politely slightly taken aback at the inventor's reaction towards her. Normally, most clients would be showering her with compliments about her appearance, but the inventor kept her at arm's length.</p><p>
  <em>You are an odd one, Hermione Granger.</em>
</p><p>"Now that your test-I mean, introductions are over, shall we go?" Harry offered his arm to Ginny that accepted with a smile. The young vice president had fancied Hermione's assistant for years, but the fiery redhead politely rejected him as she didn't date co-workers nor bosses; they became good friends after that.</p><p>"Sure" an awkward Hermione raised her left arm for Fleur to take.</p><p>
  <em>How did she know I am left-handed?</em>
</p><p>"You grabbed your purse with your left and also fixed the loose strands of your hair but only the left side" Hermione commented as she had just read her mind. Fleur immediately fixed the right side of her hair eliciting a chuckle from the inventor.</p><p>Harry and Ginny observed the whole interaction with wide eyes. It was the first time Hermione had put aside her stubborn side and was well, nice. The soft chime of the penthouse's private elevator announced its arrival and the two couples took it to get to the ground floor where a black limousine would take them to the Ascot Racecourse.</p><hr/><p>"Do you fancy any horse, Fleur?" Hermione asked while observing the monitors with the statistics and odds of the regal animals. "we can bet to see which of our horses wins the next race"</p><p>The inventor was already tired after a few hours watching the noble animals' races. Then, a meeting with some potential Asian investors ended up with interesting proposals to be checked during lunch in a few days. After a quick snack in their private box, Hermione asked Fleur to go for a walk that led them to the betting area. She had enjoyed the company of the gorgeous blonde so far.</p><p>"I like <em>Stradivarius</em>, he is in great form and has won several races this year" Fleur commented while analyzing the data shown on the screens. Hermione observed the blonde that had a slight frown.</p><p>
  <em>Pensive expression.</em>
</p><p>"Bösendorfer had recovered well from his pastern injury, so I think he has a great chance to win the race." Hermione withdrew some bills from her purse "my money is on him."</p><p>"I think that the owners of these horses are art enthusiasts" Fleur chuckled "or just showoffs."</p><p>"Well, Stradivarius's owner gave it away almost immediately" Hermione chuckled "that's the most famous violin maker, after all."</p><p>"On the other hand, Bösendorfer is not that known unless you <em>are</em> a connoisseur" Fleur voiced her thoughts and the inventor hummed.</p><p>"Let's see if your <em>violin</em> can win against my <em>piano</em>, then" Hermione teased before turning to place her bet with a smiling blonde in tow. After grabbing their tickets, they got back to the private box.</p><p>A few minutes later, the race started, and Fleur jumped from her seat when <em>Stradivarius</em> took the lead. Hermione didn't stand and ignored the race completely for the excited woman next to her.</p><p>
  <em>Blushed cheeks, sparkling eyes.</em>
</p><p>"I won!" Fleur gave her a wide smile and a hug to a still shocked Hermione that just stayed rooted on the spot. It was the first time statistics had betrayed her.</p><p>"Le-let's go and collect you-your earnings" Hermione suddenly stood, and Fleur took a step back and frowned at the retreating form of the brunette before following her to collect the money she just got thanks to <em>Stradivarius</em>.</p><p>After that, an exhausted Hermione said goodbye to her brother and Ginny and left the racecourse with Fleur. The inventor asked her chauffeur to take the blonde home and walked her to her door.</p><p>With a polite smile and never invading Fleur's personal space, the inventor promised to message her. She had been officially accepted as Hermione's companion for the rest of her public engagements.</p><hr/><p>The next day, Hermione sent an owl to Fleur asking if she wanted to meet for tea. The blonde accepted and sent her a second owl with an address of a cozy café not far from the inventor's office.</p><p>The chime of a bell announced the entrance of a new patron to the small café that was one of Hermione's favorites.</p><p>"Thank you for accepting my invitation, Fleur" Hermione greeted "I won't take much of your time today and I will reward you handsomely."</p><p>"It's not about the money, Hermione" the elegant blonde commented before ordering a black coffee "I enjoy your company."</p><p>"People say that I am awkward and a hermit, and maybe I am" the inventor shrugged before finishing her tea "but it's just-"</p><p>"Sometimes talking to people can be hard Hermione" Fleur placed a hand on top of the inventor's "just take it slow."</p><p>"I pay you to listen to me-" Hermione chuckled bitterly. Sensing how the blonde's hand withdrew, the inventor quickly grabbed it and lowered her gaze; her silver and blue earrings gleaming at the sudden move "I didn't mean it that way, I am sorry." Fleur observed the brunette that didn't dare to raise her eyes. "Merlin, I am terrible at this."</p><p>"Hermione, look at me" Fleur softly whispered and squeezed her hand and waited until the inventor raised her eyes, but amber didn't focus on her completely "would you like to take a walk? There's a park nearby with a nice view of a lake."</p><p>"I-" Hermione sensed how the tension slowly dissipated and her lips formed a shy smile "I'd love to." After paying the bill, the blonde grabbed the inventor by the arm, and both walked to the park and sat on a bench facing the lake.</p><p>A more relaxed Hermione even fed some ducks that approached them. They talked about so many different things that the inventor lost count. There was something about the blonde that made her feel at ease, and she felt the need to hold on to that wonderful feeling the company of Fleur Delacour caused in her.</p><p>After that, the casual outings became more frequent, and now they knew each other better thanks to repeated encounters for coffee or lunch. The blonde really enjoyed Hermione's company and the inventor felt so at ease that she started opening up more and told Fleur anecdotes about her childhood, and the story behind her first inventions.</p><p>It was a nice and safe space for the two of them that they just wanted to spend together as much time as they could. After Fleur saved enough money to finish paying for her master's degree, the blonde refused to accept any additional galleon from Hermione as she had started to look at the brilliant brunette under a different light and mixing feelings with the business was not the ideal way to start whatever this was.</p><hr/><p>The next public appearance of the couple was at the British Museum Annual Fundraising Ball two weeks later. Hermione decided to wear another shirtless suit, this time black, with deep red high heels. The inventor was the perfect gentleman with Fleur that was glad that the inventor had opened up a bit and stopped keeping her at arm's length.</p><p>Several men and women approached them after dinner to ask Fleur, and even Hermione, to dance, but the couple rejected them all. She was here with and for Hermione alone, the rest of the world would have to wait.</p><p>"Would you care for a dance, Hermione?" Fleur asked in a sweet tone and the inventor stiffened.</p><p>"I-" the inventor looked away and observed the dance floor for a few seconds before turning back with a smile "I'd love to, Fleur."</p><p>Both walked to the center of the room just when a waltz started. They danced as if they had danced together all their lives. They complemented each other perfectly. As they glided on the dance floor, several couples stopped just to observe them in awe.</p><p>When the last notes of the fourth waltz they danced died down, the couples clapped and cheered at them. A nervous Hermione went back to their table and ordered a double firewhisky. She was not used to this kind of attention and it made her nervous and anxious.</p><p>"Hermione" Fleur called but the inventor ignored her. She needed to calm down first, and apparently, firewhisky was helping. After the third drink in a row, the blonde grabbed her forearm "I think you had enough."</p><p>"Don't-" the inventor slurred; she was lightweight when it came to drinking and she was now feeling the full effect of the strong alcohol she had consumed nonstop for a while now. She tried to stand to go to the restroom, but the world started spinning.</p><p>"Careful there" Fleur caught her and helped her get to the lavatory. Once there, she frowned at Hermione's erratic behavior. The brunette was unable to find the faucet despite being in front of it. She also couldn't reach the paper towels next to her. The entire situation was certainly odd, but Fleur assumed that it was due to her inebriated state.</p><p>"Take me home, please" Hermione whispered, and the blonde grabbed her arm and guided them outside where the inventor's chauffeur was waiting for them.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, Fleur opened the door of Hermione's apartment for her and turned on the lights. The inventor stumbled inside and tripped against almost all the furniture on her way to her room. She even crashed against the closed door and cursed while rubbing her nose. Fleur headed to the kitchen to grab some water for Hermione.</p><p>A thud and a loud crash later had Fleur running towards Hermione's room to make sure that the inventor didn't hurt herself. When she saw the now barefoot inventor trying to kneel to grab her earrings and not minding the sharp pieces of the mirror she just broke surrounding her, the blonde crossed the room in three long steps and grabbed Hermione from the waist "Don't move."</p><p>"But my earrings," the inventor whispered.</p><p>"Let me pick up this mess first and then you can have them" Fleur stated firmly while helping the inventor to sit on her bed "I will go grab a broom and a dustpan, stay right here, please" Hermione nodded with her head down and the blonde rushed to the kitchen after she discarded her stilettos by the inventor's door. This was no time for looking elegant but helping her friend in need.</p><p>A pained scream made Fleur run back to the room to gasp in horror when she found and anxious Hermione trying to grab her earrings once more among large and sharp pieces of broken mirror. Her bloody hands finally reached them, but several shards had pierced her skin which made it impossible for the inventor to put them back on.</p><p>"Why are those earrings so important for you to hurt your hands, are you insane?" Fleur yelled while trying to stop Hermione form hurting her hands even more.</p><p>"Because-"</p><p>"This is crazy, Hermione" the blonde grabbed the first-aid kit from under the sink of the bathroom and started removing the shards from the inventor's shaky hands. Hermione lowered her gaze once more and her eyes watered. She whispered something that Fleur couldn't quite catch "I am sorry, what did you say?"</p><p>"That the earrings are so important because they are my only way to be able to see you" Hermione yelled back and started sobbing with desperation.</p><p>"What do you mean?" the blonde was utterly confused at the brunette's statement.</p><p>"I am blind, Fleur" Hermione murmured so softly that Fleur thought it was a figment of her imagination "I invented those charmed earrings to describe everything around me as the only thing I actually see is lights and shadows."</p><p>"Does Harry-"</p><p>"Only Ginny knows," Hermione explained before wincing when Fleur removed a rather big shard from her palm and cleaned it "there was an accident in my private lab when I was researching a way to remove dark curses from an ancient artifact that reacted badly to my spells. Apparently, I activated something because next thing I knew, I couldn't see but lights and shadows"</p><p>"When?"</p><p>"Five and a half years ago," the inventor whispered.</p><p>"And you have been keeping this secret by yourself for so long?"</p><p>"I have to" Hermione's face turned into worry "you can't tell anyone, please, it will ruin all I have worked so hard for"</p><p>"Don't worry, I won't" Fleur reassured. She just finished bandaging Hermione's hands and stood to put the first-aid kit back to where it belonged when the inventor's right hand grabbed her wrist.</p><p>"Stay please," the inventor begged, she looked so fragile and sad and that broke the blonde's hand.</p><p>"Let me clean this up first" Fleur whispered softly "in the meantime change into something more comfortable, yes?" the blonde knew that if she started coddling the independent brunette, she would take it the wrong way.</p><p>"Fine" Hermione asked in a small voice that cracked Fleur's heart "but you will come back, right?"</p><p>"I promise, I will after I clean this up" Fleur cupped Hermione's face and ran her thumb down her cheek. Without the earrings, the inventor's eyes looked slightly cloudy; it was easier to tell that something was wrong with them "let me help you put on her earrings first, is that ok?"</p><p>"Yes," Hermione whispered and closed her eyes while Fleur put the silver and blue earrings back on. After a few blinks, her eyes looked as alive and vibrant as usual.</p><p>"Change into your pajamas and I will finish cleaning up, ok," the blonde asked with a smile.</p><p>"Don't patronize me" Hermione replied in a fake hurt tone that made Fleur giggle before she turned around and started cleaning up. After disposing of the last batch of shards, the blonde went back to the inventor's room.</p><p>"I hope this fits you" Hermione handed the blonde an oversized t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts "you can change here, I promise I won't peek" the inventor covered the hanging charmed Burmese pear-shaped sapphire of her earrings. A second later, Hermione's eyes looked cloudy once more.</p><p>"Dork" the blonde giggled "you can take a peek, I am gorgeous, anyway"</p><p>"And quite arrogant, I may add" Hermione teased while removing her fingers from the sapphires, and the inventor's eyes went back to her amber vibrant shade. The overload of information provided by her earrings made her blush deeply "you are indeed gorgeous."</p><p>"Did you say something?"</p><p>"Not really" Hermione lied but her slight blush betrayed her. At this, Fleur smiled.</p><p>"Where's the guest room?" the blonde asked with a quiet tone. She knew that she shouldn't pressure the inventor even if her own heart wanted to take everything Hermione wanted to give her.</p><p>"Stay here with me, please" the inventor whispered hesitantly "the bed is big enough-"</p><p>"Fine" Fleur sat on the soft mattress and Hermione did the same before using wandless magic to turn off the lights "if you are able to use wandless and wordless magic, why did you hurt your hands so badly trying to get the earrings? You could easily just <em>accio</em> them, you know?"</p><p>"I am drunk" Hermione pouted and crossed her arms under the covers.</p><p>"Dork" Fleur softly scolded with a giggle before, tentatively, wrapping an arm around the inventor's waist that this time didn't stiffen but leaned at the touch, and whispered a soft <em>good night </em>before closing her eyes.</p><p>Fleur observed how the talented inventor of the last two centuries drifted off before she closed her own eyes and a sincere smile grazed her lips before falling in asleep.</p><p>
  <em>Baby steps, Hermione. Take all the time you want.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I will be here for you.</em>
</p><p>That night, Hermione Granger dreamed about flying once more, but this time she was not alone. A beautiful and regal woman was by her side giving her, and only her, the most beautiful smile she had ever seen in her life.</p><p>This time, the sight of green forests, crystal clear creeks, snow-capped mountains, and fluffy clouds welcomed then, and both flew and played among the clouds without a care in the world. Hermione smiled in her sleep and leaned closer to be engulfed by the warmth Fleur Delacour provided.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you again for sticking with me all this week. Please leave your final thoughts and top three choices for multi-chaps and I will make them a reality.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let's start the week with fluff. Let's see how the other days go.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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